Courage means going against majority opinion in the name of the truth. Vaclav Havel More Quotes by Vaclav Havel More Quotes From Vaclav Havel Hope is a feeling that life and work have meaning. You either have it or you don't, regardless of the state of the world that surrounds you. Vaclav Havel herohopefeelings You do not become a ''dissident'' just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society. Vaclav Havel patriotismcareersresponsibility You can't spend your whole life criticizing something and then, when you have the chance to do it better, refuse to go near it. Vaclav Havel whole-lifecriticizechance Keep the company of those who seek the truth- run from those who have found it Vaclav Havel truthfoundrunning I do think Russian foreign policy is very savvy. There's a need for great caution because the Russians are able to discreetly blackmail countries. Vaclav Havel ablecountrythinking I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure that everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart. Vaclav Havel pessimisthopeheart Frank Zappa was one of the gods of the Czech underground, I thought of him as a friend. Whenever I feel like escaping from the world of the Presidency, I think of him. Vaclav Havel escapingworldthinking There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them. Vaclav Havel no-doubtdistrustdoubt Without free, self-respecting, and autonomous citizens there can be no free and independent nations. Without internal peace, that is, peace among citizens and between the citizens and the state, there can be no guarantee of external peace. Vaclav Havel respectfreedompeace Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable of living in this way. Therefore not only does the system alienate humanity, but at the same time alienated humanity supports this system as its own involuntary master plan, as a degenerate image of its own degeneration, as a record of people's own failure as individuals. Vaclav Havel supportlyingpeople Self-confidence is not pride. Just the contrary: only a person or a nation that is self-confident, in the best sense of the word, is capable of listening to others, accepting them as equals, forgiving its enemies and regretting its own guilt. Vaclav Havel self-confidenceregretpride Speaking about myself, I've been pleasantly surprised that my older plays are still being performed. Most important is that they still have something to say to today's audience, in particular the young people who enjoy my plays. That's the best I could hope for, that the plays aren't single-use products of one era. Vaclav Havel importantplaypeople Modern science kills God and takes his place on the vacant throne. Science is the sole legitimate arbiter of all relavent truth. Vaclav Havel thronessolemodern Planetary democracy does not yet exist but our global civilization is already preparing a place for it. It is the very Earth we inhabit linked with Heaven above us. Only in this setting can the mutuality and the commonality of the human race be newly created with reverence and gratitude for that which transcends each of us and all of us together. Vaclav Havel gratituderacecivilization When a man has his heart in the right place and good taste, he can not only do well in politics but is even predetermined for it. If someone is modest and does not yearn for power, he is certainly not ill-equipped to engage in politics; on the contrary, he belongs there. What is needed in politics is not the ability to lie but rather the sensibility to know when, where, how and to whom to say things. Vaclav Havel heartmenlying People thought they could explain and conquer nature-yet the outcome is that they destroyed it and disinherited themselves from it. Vaclav Havel outcomesnaturepeople If the world is to change for the better it must start with a change in human consciousness, in the very humanness of modern man. Vaclav Havel change-for-the-bettermenworld Technological measures are important, but equally important is... a consciousness of the commonality of all living beings and an emphasis on shared responsibility. Vaclav Havel climateimportantresponsibility The experience I'm talking about has given me one certainty: 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. Without a global revolution in human consciousness, nothing will change for the better, and the catastrophe toward which this world is headed will be unavoidable. Vaclav Havel responsibilityheartlying It would appear that the traditional parliamentary democracies can offer no fundamental opposition to that automatism of technological civilization and the industrial-consumer society, for they too are being dragged helplessly along by it. People are manipulated in ways that are infinitely more subtle and refined than the brutal methods used in post-totalitarian societies. Vaclav Havel democracycivilizationpeople
