Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa
Lech Wałęsa; born 29 September 1943) is a retired Polish politician and labor activist. He co-founded and headed Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995...
NationalityPolish
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth29 September 1943
CityPopowo, Poland
CountryPoland
people understanding feelings
I realize that the strivings of the Polish people gave rise, and still do so, to the feelings of understanding and solidarity all over the world.
polls lawmakers should
You should go to the polls, organize yourself. But once lawmakers are chosen, they must be respected.
heart needs overjoyed
I am overjoyed that I do not need a heart transplant at this time.
summer rights people
This conviction brought me, in the summer of 1978, to the Free Trade Unions - formed by a group of courageous and dedicated people who came out in the defense of the workers' rights and dignity.
people enemy communism
I have always been and will be an enemy of communism, but I love all people.
education opportunity rights
I belong to the generation of workers who, born in the villages and hamlets of rural Poland, had the opportunity to acquire education and find employment in industry, becoming in the course conscious of their rights and importance in society.
horse men news
It is not difficult to censor foreign news. What is difficult today is to censor one's own thoughts, To sit by and see the blind man On the sightless horse, riding into the bottomless abyss.
communist threat capitalist
Communists are great capitalists, so there is no threat anymore.
wall nice fall
The fall of the Berlin Wall makes for nice pictures. But it all started in the shipyards.
vision knows
I have a vision, and I know I'm right.
independent people unions
What until then seemed impossible to achieve has become a fact of life. We have won the right to association in trade unions independent from the authorities, founded and shaped by the working people themselves.
taken advice too-much
I allowed myself to be taken in by the intellectuals. I believed too much in the Polish intellectuals and followed their advice.
mary virgins virgin-mary
In myself I am nothing. It all comes from God and the Virgin Mary.
victory rivals eras
I believed it would succeed. It was Polish Solidarity and its victory that put an end to the old era when what mattered were borders and rival blocs.