"I look upon the people and nation handed on to me as a responsibility conferred upon me by God, and that it is, as is written in the Bible, my duty to increase this heritage, for which one day I shall be called upon to give an account; those who try to interfere with my task I shall crush."

"The present age delights in casting many a glance backward at the past, and in comparing it with the existing state of things, mostly to the disadvantage of the latter. He who can look back at such a glorious past as, thank God, we Germans can, does well to do so, in order to learn many a lesson therefrom. In a monarchical state this is called tradition."

"The essence of nationality is demarcation from the outside world by a definite boundary to correspond with the personal characteristics of a nation and its racial idiosyncrasies."

"I made up my mind after reading the lessons of history never to dream of a vast world-empire. For what has become of all those so-called world-empires? Alexander, Napoleon and all such great captains bathed themselves in blood, and yet left behind them subjugated peoples, who, after those great men had died, rose in revolt and ruined the Empires they had created."

"I dream of an Empire and it is this: The newly-born German Empire must possess the confidence of everybody, must be considered everywhere as a quiet, honest and peaceful neighbour; and if some day in the future a German world-empire is spoken of, it must not be based on the conquests of the sword, but on the reciprocal confidences of nations united for an identical end."

"By God's grace our German stock has been able to produce mighty heroes of thought, from Boniface and Walter von der Vogelweide down to Goethe and Schiller, and they have become a light and blessing to all posterity. They worked for humanity at large, and yet they were strictly well-contained Germans, that is to say, personalities, men. We need such men to-day more than ever."

"The feeling of sympathy for science which is innate in every Prussian king is also active in me."

"Our future lies upon the water. To the sea our thoughts are turned—the sea, which is the symbol of eternity. Seas do not separate; they unite."

"The German fleet is the youngest fleet in the world, and another proof of the growing importance of the new German Empire. It is destined to protect the commerce and territory of this Empire, and it will, like the German Army, serve to keep the peace of the world."

"Should it ever happen that the British and German Navies have to fight side by side against a common foe, then the famous signal "England expects that every man will do his duty," which England's greatest naval hero gave out before the battle of Trafalgar, will find an echo in the patriotic heart of the German Navy."

"It is understood that a defensive fleet does not merely serve to protect the interests of the traders of our great commercial cities, but that it is also needed, and bitterly needed, for the protection of the industry of our entire people and their success in the world."

"To protect Germany's sea trade and colonies, in the existing circumstances, there is only one means: Germany must have a battle fleet so strong that, even for the adversary with the greatest sea-power, a war against it would involve such dangers as to imperil its position in the world."

"The King of Prussia stands so high above all political parties and the wire-pulling and hatred of politicians, that he can contemplate his subjects without taking these things into account, and can thus work for the benefit of each one of his people and each separate province."

"Our people must resolve to make sacrifices; above all, they must divest themselves of their passion for seeking the highest good in ever more and more sharply accentuated party struggles. They must cease to place the party above the welfare of the whole."

"My people must aid me in my duties, not by angry speeches or by the unreasonable opposition of political parties, but by explaining their difficulties to their Sovereign and showing confidence in him."

"Our wives can learn from Queen Louise that the principal task of a woman does not lie in the domain of political meetings and propaganda, but in the quiet duties of the hearth and of family."

"No morning or evening passes without my offering up a prayer for my people."

"I like to read the Bible, and I read it every day. I always have it beside my bed, and I cannot understand how there can be so many people who take such little heed of the Word of God."

"No words of man have ever been uttered worthy of comparison with the words of Christ."

"I verily believe that everyone must feel a touch of inspiration when he stands before the altar and looks at the crucifix."

"Religion has never risen from science: it is an overflowing of the heart of man in his relations with God."

"Every Catholic ought to know that I honour his religion and that he will never be prevented in his exercise of it if he respects the beliefs of those who profess other faiths."

"My Catholic subjects can rely on my Imperial protection, wherever and whenever they may stand in need of it."

"May we always be mindful that it is our duty to protect religion which should be preserved for the nation, and to uphold morals and order."

"I am opposed to war; but war can only be avoided by exerting to the utmost the defensive forces of the State."

"I am well aware of the fact that by the public at large, and particularly in foreign countries, I am represented as entertaining a wanton and ambitious craving for war. May God keep me from such criminal folly."

"It is the power of tradition which on the field of battle as well as in peace makes men's heart beat higher for king and country, and inspires them to brave deeds."

"The same blood runs in English and German veins. I am a friend of England. The prevailing sentiment among large sections of the middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to England. I am, therefore, so to speak, in a minority in my own land; but it is a minority of the best elements."

"The British troops have filled me with the greatest admiration. If the possibility of a volunteer army is ever doubted, I shall be able to give such an army a testimony of efficiency."

"Germany possesses an army commensurate with her needs, and if Great Britain has a navy corresponding to her requirements, Europe in general cannot fail to regard it as a most important factor for the maintenance of peace."

"Among the many eminent qualities which the Americans possess, it is, above all, their spirit of enterprise, their sense of order, and their inventive capacity, which attract the attention of the whole world."

"The cultivation of ideals is the greatest work of civilization."

"All the works of man perish and decay."

"Why did the German Empire sink into decay? Because the old Empire was not founded on a strictly national basis. The idea of universal rule that underlay the Holy Roman Empire precluded a development on national German lines."

"Why are so many of our young men led astray? Why do so many reformers of the world make their appearance with their incoherent, confused theories? Why is it that there is always so much grumbling at our Government, and why are we so often referred to foreign countries for an example? Because young men do not know how our conditions have developed, and further, that they are but the outcome of the era of the French Revolution."

"If civilization is to fully perform its task, it must permeate to the lowest ranks of the people."

"There will come a day when Berlin will be the most beautiful city in the world."

"In the century to come, in spite of all new spirits and ideas, may the old loyalty to the monarchy show itself firm as a rock and as an example for other countries."

"Every man, however simple-minded he may be, has a feeling for what is beautiful or ugly."

"Under the much-used word freedom, and under its banner, artists often degenerate into monstrosity and exaggeration and conceit."

"I regard it as my duty, in the spirit of my parents, to hold my hand over my German people, its rising generation, to cultivate in them the sense of the beautiful, to develop in them a taste for art, but only on a definite path, only within definite limits, which lie in the feeling for beauty and harmony, that exists in the hearts of men."

"Sculpture has still for the most part remained untouched by the so-called modern tendencies and movements. It still stands there, noble and sublime."

"The man who breaks away from the law of beauty, the feeling for aesthetics and harmony, of which every human heart is sensible, even when it is unable to give it expression, and finds his main principle in the thought of some special tendency, some definite solution of what are rather technical problems, sins against the primary source and origin of art."

"My House has always cared for the working classes. The welfare of the working men lies near to my heart. Every subject who prefers a wish or petition has, as a matter of course, the ear of his Emperor."

"I do not disguise from myself the fact that I can never make all the members of our nation equally happy and contented. But I have good hope that I shall succeed in bringing about a state of things with which all can be content who have the will to be so."

"I lend my hand to any plan that can help to further the great cause of peace."

"I only wish that European peace lay in my hands. I should certainly take care it should never be disturbed."

"The German Empire, far from being a danger to other States, will be respected and trusted by the nations, and will remain as heretofore a mainstay of peace."

"It is, of course, my first duty to do everything that is possible to preserve peace, this is only natural, considering what work The North German Lloyd is called upon to perform; for trade and commerce can only thrive and flourish when business can be conducted under sure care and protection."