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Vaclav Havel Quotes

Former President of Czechoslovakia

Vaclav Havel, born on October 5, 1936, was the former president of Czechoslovakia. He was a playwright, politician, and a leading figure in the Velvet Revolution. Known for his unwavering commitment to freedom, democracy, and human rights, Havel's works and actions had a profound impact on European politics in the post-Cold War era.

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Famous Vaclav Havel Quotes

“The idea of human rights and freedoms must be an integral part of any meaningful world order. Yet, I think it must be anchored in a different place, and in a different way, than has been the case so far. If it is to be more than just a slogan mocked by half the world, it cannot be expressed in the language of a departing era, and it must not be mere froth floating on the subsiding waters of faith in a purely scientific relationship to the world.”

“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."”

Thinking World Should Firsts Ideas Facts Language Existence Practice Materials Manifest

Author:Vaclav Havel

“I think theatre should always be somewhat suspect.”

Thinking Should Theater Theatre Suspects

Author:Vaclav Havel

“We ask ourselves all kinds of questions, such as why does a peacock have such beautiful feathers, and we may answer that he needs the feathers to impress a female peacock, but then we ask ourselves, and why is there a peacock? And then we ask, why is there anything living? And then we ask, why is there anything at all? And if you tell some advocate of scientism that the answer is a secret, he will go white hot and write a book. But it is a secret. And the experience of living with the secret and thinking about it is in itself a kind of faith.”

Ifs Thinking Needs Writing Kind May Doe Book Beautiful Asks White Answers Secret Female Hot All Kinds Impress Feathers Scientism Peacock

Author:Vaclav Havel

“I personally think President [Hosni] Mubarak, who's done a lot for Egypt, should acknowledge that his time has come and step down right away.”

Thinking Should Done President Steps Acknowledge Egypt Mubarak

Author:Vaclav Havel

“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.”

Thinking Needs Country Able Policy Foreign Policy Caution Savvy Blackmail

Author:Vaclav Havel

“The truth is not simply what you think it is; it is also the circumstances in which it is said, and to whom, why, and how it is said.”

Thinking Said Circumstances Truth Is

Author:Vaclav Havel

“Man is not an omipotent master of the universe, allowed to do with impunity whatever he thinks, or whatever suits him at the moment. The world we live in is made of an immensely complex and mysterious tissue about which we know very little and which we must treat with utmost humility.”

Thinking Knows Men World Littles Made Moments Universe Humility Masters Treats Complexes Suits Mysterious Tissues Impunity

Author:Vaclav Havel

“The kind of hope that I often think about…I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us, or we don’t. It is a dimension of the soul It’s not essentially dependent upon some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

Thinking World Mind Wells Kind Soul States Turns Situation Particular Conviction Observation Certainty Make Sense Dimensions Dependent State Of Mind Having Hope

Author:Vaclav Havel

“Truth is not merely what we are thinking, but also why, to whom and under what circumstances we say it.”

Thinking Awareness Circumstances Truth Is

Author:Vaclav Havel

“Those who rebelled against totalitarian rule and those who simply managed to remain themselves and think freely, were all persecuted. We should not forget any of those who paid for our present freedom in one way or another.”

Thinking Way Should Forget Paid One Way Persecuted

Author:Vaclav Havel

“I think its important for one to take a certain distance from oneself.”

Thinking Important Certain Distance Oneself

Author:Vaclav Havel

“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.”

Thinking World Feels Frank Presidency Escaping Czech Zappa

Author:Vaclav Havel

About the Author

Born: October 5, 1936
Died: December 18, 2011
Known for: Former President of Czechoslovakia
Quotes: 168

Books & Sources

The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central Eastern Europe: Citizens Against the State in Central Eastern EuropeRelated source material

To the Castle and BackRelated source material

The Power of the PowerlessRelated source material

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