Vaclav Havel
Vaclav Havel
Václav Havel; 5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011) was a Czech writer, philosopher, dissident, and statesman. From 1989 to 1992, he served as the last president of Czechoslovakia. He then served as the first president of the Czech Republicafter the Czech–Slovak split. Within Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays, and memoirs...
NationalityCzechoslovakian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth5 October 1936
CityPrague, Czech Republic
change confront deal felt force others situation stir
I felt the need to stir things up, ... To confront others for a change and force them to deal with a situation that I myself had created.
barriers beginning flood maximum worst
It is the beginning of the worst moment. All of the flood barriers are at their maximum level.
absolutely against law legal spirit
That is very dangerous, ... in an absolutely legal way and in accordance with the wording of the law, but against the spirit of the ... constitution.
agree courage demands domestic fortunate respected therefore wish
All respected domestic and international organizations agree that your demands are justified. Therefore I wish you strength, endurance, courage and fortunate decisions.
doe martyrdom totalitarianism
I have read somewhere that in a totalitarian system martyrdom does better than thought.
cuba certain
What's certain is that a totalitarian enclave like Cuba's can't continue to exist, so change will definitely come there, eventually.
dark squares light
People have passed through a very dark tunnel at the end of which there was a light of freedom. Unexpectedly they passed through the prison gates and found themselves in a square. They are now free and they don't know where to go.
trying citizens might
When a person tries to act in accordance with his conscience, when he tries to speak the truth, when he tries to behave like a citizen, even in conditions where citizenship is degraded, it won't necessarily lead anywhere, but it might. There's one thing, however, that will never lead anywhere, and that is speculating that such behavior will lead somewhere.
hero winning intelligent
There's always something suspect about an intellectual on the winning side.
love life family
Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance.
giving advice citizens
In my opinion, theater shouldn't give advice to citizens.
believe character air
I believe that during the intervention of NATO in Kosovo there is an element nobody can question: the air attacks, the bombs, are not caused by a material interest. Their character is exclusively humanitarian: What is at stake here are the principles, human rights which have priority above state sovereignty. This makes it legitimate to attack the Yugoslav Federation, although without the United Nations mandate.
men sight important
The most important thing is that man should be the measure of all structures, including economic structures, and not that man be made to measure for those structures. The most important thing is not to lose sight of personal relationships - i.e., the relationships between man and his co-workers, between subordinates and their superiors, between man and his work, between this work and its consequences.
jobs honesty hero
If we are to change our world view, images have to change. The artist now has a very important job to do. He's not a little peripheral figure entertaining rich people, he's really needed.