Daily Inspiration Quote by Kelly Miller

A century is a long time to stay on top in Europe, and Miller’s sentence quietly underlines how power can outlive the personality who first concentrated it. Frederick the Great often gets framed as the lone genius-king, but the real flex here is institutional: after the reign of Frederick, Prussia still “remained” prominent. The verb does the work. It suggests an apparatus that kept functioning - bureaucracy, military discipline, a political culture built around obedience and efficiency - even when the hero of the story exits the stage.

The phrasing also carries a neat bit of sociological distance. Miller doesn’t romanticize Prussia; he measures it. “Most prominent” is comparative, almost clinical, implying a Europe where states are constantly ranked by influence, military leverage, and diplomatic centrality. “Germanic state” matters, too. In the long 19th century, “Germany” wasn’t a unified fact but a contested project. Calling Prussia the “most prominent” Germanic state is a way of explaining, in one line, why unification later tilts toward Berlin rather than Vienna: prominence precedes legitimacy.

Context sharpens the intent. Writing in an era of nation-states, imperial competition, and the aftershocks of World War I, Miller is attentive to how dominance becomes durable through structure, not just charisma. The subtext is almost contemporary: individual leaders get credit, but systems are what keep power in circulation.