““Of the two classes of Prussian officer, the bull-necked and the wasp-waisted, he belonged to the second. Monocled and effete in appearance, cold and distant in manner, he concentrated with such single-mindedness on his profession that when an aide, at the end of an all-night staff ride in East Prussia, pointed out to him the beauty of the river Pregel sparkling in the rising sun, the General gave a brief, hard look and replied, 'An unimportant obstacle.””
![“When Leopold wrote that the precise frontiers of the new state or states would be defined later, [German Chancellor] Bismarck said to an aide, "His Majesty displays the pretensions and naive selfishness of an Italian who considers that his charm and good looks will enable him to get away with…” quote by Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/925/adam-hochschild-4138_quote_when-leopold-wrote-that-the-precise-fron_157233.jpg)
![“The most interesting acquaintanceship I have struck up here is that of Colonel Lapinski. He is without doubt the cleverest Pole -- besides being an homme d'action [man of action] -- that I have ever met. His sympathies are all on the German side, though in manners and speech he is also a…” quote by Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e35/karl-marx-399_action_the-most-interesting-acquaintanceship-i_2891880.jpg)
![“The clergy [in the 14th century] on the whole were probably no more lecherous or greedy or untrustworthy than other men, but because they were supposed to be better or nearer to God than other men, their failings attracted more attention.” quote by Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/558/barbara-tuchman-3945_attention_the-clergy-in-the-14th-century-on-the-wh_159681.jpg)
