“A really great man is known by three signs: generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.”

Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.

A government must not waiver once it has chosen its course. It must not look to the left or right but go forward.

History is simply a piece of paper covered with print: the main thing is to make history, not to write it.

Nothing should be left to an invaded people except their eyes for weeping.

A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that deals one.

Politics are not a science based on logic; they are the capacity of always choosing at each instant, in constantly changing situations, the least harmful, the most useful.

The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia.

The main thing is to make history, not to write it.

We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world.

With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.

Politics is not an exact science.

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.

I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.

When you say you agree to a thing in principle you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.

Politics ruins the character.

Design is about point of view, and there should be some sort of woman or lifestyle or attitude in one’s head as a designer.

My bedroom is my sanctuary. It’s like a refuge, and it’s where I do a fair amount of designing – at least conceptually, if not literally.

Sometimes I feel like what’s hard for fashion designers to do is take looks from off the runway and actually put it into existence, into reality. That’s really the hard part.

My closet is organized by tops, pants, and outerwear, but not a lot of dresses. Gowns are in another room because I don’t often dress formally, even though I design gowns. Like most designers, I have a uniform, and mine is a legging.

Design my own line? No, I just like the culture.

I wouldn’t mind collaborating with anybody, but I don’t want to design anything, I’m not a fashion designer.

The intricate engraving, fine lines, beading and milgrain accents echo an era defined by elaborate embellishments.

Fashion to me has become very disposable; I wanted to get back to craft, to clothes that could last.