The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought. Vaclav Havel More Quotes by Vaclav Havel More Quotes From Vaclav Havel 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 democracy civilization people But if I were to say who influenced me most, then I'd say Franz Kafka. And his works were always anchored in the Central European region. Vaclav Havel regions ifs The world is not divided into two types of being, one superior and the other merely surrounding it. Being, nature, the universe - they are all one infinitely complex and mysterious metaorganism of which we are but a part, though a unique one. Vaclav Havel unique inspiring two It lies in human nature that where you experience your first laughs, you also remember the age kindly. Vaclav Havel age laughing lying I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time build a state that is-regardless of how unscientific this may sound to the ears of a political scientist-humane, moral, intellectual and spiritual, and cultural. Vaclav Havel hero spiritual law The dissident does not operate in the realm of genuine power at all. He is not seeking power. He has no desire for office and does not gather votes. He does not attempt to charm the public, he offers nothing and promises nothing. He can offer, if anything, only his own skin - and he offers it solely because he has no other way of affirming the truth he stands for. His actions simply articulate his dignity as a citizen, regardless of the cost. Vaclav Havel office power truth It's not true that you should first think up an idea for a better world and only then "put it into practice," but, rather, through the fact of your existence in the world, you create the idea or manifest it - create it, as it were, from the "material of the world," articulate it in the "language of the world." Vaclav Havel practice ideas thinking The exercise of power is determined by thousands of interactions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, all the more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyone has a small part of himself in both. Vaclav Havel powerful leadership hero I think theatre should always be somewhat suspect. Vaclav Havel theatre should thinking There is only one Art, whose sole criterion is the power, the authenticity, the revelatory insight, the courage and suggestiveness with which it seeks its truth. Vaclav Havel criteria authenticity art The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle. Vaclav Havel giving-up causes struggle Hope is not a feeling of certainty that everything ends well. Hope is just a feeling that life and work have a meaning. Vaclav Havel certainty ends feelings Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. Vaclav Havel running inspirational funny A genuinely fundamental and hopeful improvement in "systems" cannot happen without a significant shift in human consciousness. Vaclav Havel hopeful improvement fundamentals Though my heart may be left of centre, I have always known that the only economic system that works is a market economy... This is the only natural economy, the only kind that makes sense, the only one that can lead to prosperity, because it is the only one that reflects the nature of life itself. Vaclav Havel kind heart may A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from the soil of a clearsighted awareness of the temporality and the ephemerality of everything human. It is only this awareness that can breathe any greatness into an action. Vaclav Havel greatness important spring Ultimately, power only really listens to power, and if government is to be improved, we must be able to threaten its existence, not merely its reputation. Vaclav Havel reputation able government Drama assumes an order. If only so that it might have - by disrupting that order - a way of surprising. Vaclav Havel theatre drama order Life cannot be destroyed for good, neithercan history be brought entirely to a halt. A secret streamlet trickles on beneath the heavy lid of inertia and pseudo-events, slowly and inconspicuously undercutting it. It may be a long process, but one day it must happen: the lid will no longer hold and will start to crack. This is the moment when something once more begins visibly to happen, something truly new and uniquesomething truly historical, in the sense that history again demands to be heard. Vaclav Havel historical secret long If one were required to increase the dramatic seriousness of his face in relation to the seriousness of the problems he had to confront, he would quickly petrify and become his own statue. Vaclav Havel laughter problem faces
