# Η πολιτική είναι η τέχνη του εφικτού = Politics is the art of the possible



## nickel (May 25, 2011)

“POLITICS is the art of the possible.” (“Die Politik ist die Lehre von Möglichen.”) Although sometimes attributed to British politician R. A. Butler (whose 1971 memoir was titled _The Art of the Possible_), this definition of politics is more reliably credited to Otto von Bismarck, as Butler himself acknowledged. Certainly it reflected the views of Prussia’s Iron Chancellor, though in condensed form. One biographer quoted Bismarck as saying, “Politics is not a science, as the professors are apt to suppose. It is an art.” (“Die Politik ist keine Wissenschaft, wie viele der Herren Professoren sich einbilden, sondern eine Kunst.”) According to an early quotation collection, Bismarck said this in the Reichstag in 1884, echoing an earlier version of the same sentiment expressed by him in the Prussian upper house in 1863: “Politics is not an exact science.” (“Die Politik ist keine exakte Wissenschaft.”) Another old collection concurs, adding that Bismarck made a similar observation in the Prussian Chamber of Deputies in 1884. The _Oxford Dictionary of Quotations_ cites a 1918 biographer who quoted Bismarck as having made an observation to this effect during an 1867 conversation. 
*Verdict: Bismarck’s sentiments, if not his exact words. *​
Αυτά λέει ο Ralph Keyes στο βιβλίο του _The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When_.

Να προσθέσω το αναποδογύρισμα του Γκαλμπρέιθ:
*Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.* — John Kenneth Galbraith (σε επιστολή προς τον πρόεδρο Κένεντι, 3/1962, με θέμα την αμερικανική πολιτική στην [τότε] Ινδοκίνα).

*Η πολιτική δεν είναι η τέχνη του εφικτού. Είναι η επιλογή ανάμεσα στο καταστροφικό και το δυσάρεστο.*


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## drsiebenmal (May 25, 2011)

Γνωστή η γνώμη του Μπίσμαρκ για τους προφεσόρους...


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