Was kümmert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern? What do I care about my chatter of yesterday? Germans often attribute this sentence to Konrad Adenauer. It cannot be found in his writings or speeches. It first appears in print in 1969. What Adenauer did say, in December 1949, was milder. He was criticized at a meeting of his party’s parliamentary group for changing his position. He answered: “Aber meine Herren, es kann mich doch niemand daran hindern, jeden Tag klüger zu werden.” But gentlemen, nobody can stop me from getting wiser every day.