Konrad Adenauer quotes

Konrad Adenauer was a German statesman and the first Chancellor of West Germany after World War II. As a leading figure in rebuilding Germany, he played a crucial role in reestablishing democracy and fostering European integration. He is remembered for steering his country towards stability, prosperity, and close cooperation with Western Europe. Here are 22 of his quotes:

We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon. (Konrad Adenauer)
History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
What do I care about my chitchat from yesterday? View quote
Konrad Adenauer
There are things about which I don't even talk to myself. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
One does not throw out dirty water as long as one doesn't have any clean water. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
The art of politics consists in knowing precisely when it is necessary to hit an opponent slightly below the belt. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
An infallible method of conciliating a tiger is to allow oneself to be devoured. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
Only the stupidest calves choose their own butcher. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
All parts of the human body get tired eventually - except the tongue. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
We will never forget. If it takes us five or ten or twenty years, we will never rest until we get our revenge. (Konrad Adenauer)
I wish that an English statesman might once have spoken of us as Western Europeans. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
Make Europe your revenge. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
I reserve the right to be smarter today than I was yesterday. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
I am a German, but I am also, and always have been, a European and have always felt like a European. I have therefore long advocated an understanding with France; I did so, moreover, in the 1920s, during the severest crises, and also in the face of the Reich Government. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
I see the significance of the Marshall Plan in the fact that probably for the first time in history a victorious country held out its hand so that the vanquished might rise again. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
European integration should not be rigid but as flexible as we can possibly make it. It should not be a straitjacket for the peoples of Europe but should be their common mainstay, a common support for the healthy, individual development of each of them. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
A thick hide is a gift from God. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
The rare case where the conquered is very satisfied with the conqueror. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
Kennedy cooked the soup that Johnson had to eat. View quote
Konrad Adenauer
The Soviet Government and the Soviet people should not lend themselves to co-operating in the conversion into a concentration camp of part of a large neighbouring country against the will of its inhabitants. (Konrad Adenauer)
The French fear of German resurgence which caused France to press for a policy of dismemberment of Germany seemed to be altogether exaggerated. After 1945 Germany lay prostrate - militarily, economically and politically - and in my opinion this condition was a sufficient guarantee that Germany could not again threaten France. In the future United States of Europe I saw great hope for Europe and thus for Germany. We had to try to remind France, Holland, Belgium, and the other European countries that they were - as we were - situated in Western Europe, that they are and will forever remain our neighbours, that any violence they do to us must in the end lead to trouble, and that no lasting peace can be established in Europe if it is founded on force alone. View quote
Konrad Adenauer