Vaclav Havel

I don’t think you have to be a smoker to understand life.

I’m always astonished when I wake up.

Totalitarianism is not just a system of power, but also a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of being.

If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living the truth.

The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility.

Politics, when it is done well, is a service to others, not a means to personal power or enrichment.

The absurd is the only way to describe the world we live in.

The worst thing is that we have become accustomed to the lie.

Without free, independent and strong citizens, there is no free and strong state.

The future is uncertain precisely because it is open, and because it is open, it is full of hope.

I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything will end well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure that everything will end badly. I am a realist who hopes.

Responsibility is something that you have to take, not something that you are given.

The more a person has, the more he is afraid of losing it.

The only way to overcome fear is to confront it.

The primary task of a good politician is not to win elections, but to do what is right for the country.

Without common global responsibility, we cannot solve any of the global problems.

The experience of prison is an experience of learning to live without illusions.

Life is a magnificent gift, a unique opportunity, a great adventure.

The tragedy of modern man is not that he has lost God, but that he has lost himself.

The greatest danger facing mankind is that we are losing our sense of responsibility.