As foreign minister I cannot allow myself to be guided by emotions.

The fact that someone didn't experience the war itself doesn't mean that he doesn't perceive its consequences.

I sometimes read that it's time for German democracy to finally grow up. I don't see it as a sign of maturity if we treat military missions as something normal.

As a minister, I would rather be criticized for thoroughly weighing the options, and sometimes even voicing my doubts, than to be reproached for recklessly sending German soldiers into combat.

Military missions are not democratic development aid.

Military missions cannot be a normal tool of politics, but instead must remain the great exception.

I'm completely opposed to the idea of becoming accustomed to foreign military campaigns.

Pursue not the outer entanglements

Comparisons are like rigid fingers—eager to point at a subject but unwilling to grasp it.

Don't instantly throw yourself into external demands.

The fact speak for themselves.

Thirty, thirty-five, forty, all had come to visit her like admonitory relatives, and all had slipped away without a trace, without a sound, and now, once again, she was waiting.

I am not fighting a hopeless fight. People who have fought in real fights don't, as a rule.

In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.

Who were you before you put yourself last.

Fashion was my teacher.It taught me how to live. When I see clothes I want to become worthy of them.

The problem ain't what people know. It's what people know that ain't so that's the problem.