Vaclav Havel

Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.

— Vaclav Havel

The hope of the world lies in the rehabilitation of the living human being, not just the body but also the soul.

— Vaclav Havel

Hope is not a feeling. It is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the conviction that what you…

— Vaclav Havel

Without free, self-respecting, and autonomous citizens there can be no free and independent nations.

— Vaclav Havel

English is the 'language of liberty' for nations emerging from years of cultural oppression.

— Vaclav Havel

I have preserved my identity, put its credibility to the test and defended my dignity. What good this will bring the world…

— Vaclav Havel

The cliché organizes life; it expropriates people's identity; it becomes ruler, defense lawyer, judge, and the law.

— Vaclav Havel

It lies in human nature that where you experience your first laughs, you also remember the age kindly.

— Vaclav Havel

Though my heart may be left of centre, I have always known that the only economic system that works is a market…

— Vaclav Havel

“... no one ever develops and achieves self-awareness in a vacuum, beyond all ears and systems. The period you grow up in…

— Václav Havel

The Declaration of Independence states that the Creator gave man the right to liberty. It seems man can realize that liberty only…

— Vaclav Havel

Responsibility is something higher than my family, my country, my firm, my success. Responsibility to the order of Being, where, and only…

— Vaclav Havel

There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them. Besides, to distrust words, and…

— Vaclav Havel

This is the moment when something once more begins visibly to happen, something truly new and unique...something truly historical, in the sense…

— Vaclav Havel

Sober perseverance is more effective than enthusiastic emotions, which are all too capable of being transferred, with little difficulty, to something different…

— Vaclav Havel

Our social and economic statistics are telling us what we already know in our hearts: we have created a world that works…

— Vaclav Havel

“Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better in the sphere of our being…

— Václav Havel

Someone who does not draw strength from himself and who is incapable of finding the meaning of his life within himself will...seek…

— Vaclav Havel

“Think of this: Hundreds of people today are doing things that not a single one of the them would have dared to…

— Václav Havel

The question is wholly other, deeper and equally relevant to all: whether we shall, by whatever means, succeed in reconstituting the natural…

— Vaclav Havel

A state that denies its citizens their basic rights becomes a danger to its neighbors as well: internal arbitrary rule will be…

— Vaclav Havel

The dissident does not operate in the realm of genuine power at all. He is not seeking power. He has no desire…

— Vaclav Havel

We must come to understand the deep mutual connection or kinship between the various forms of our spirituality. We must recollect our…

— Vaclav Havel

A person who has been seduced by the consumer value system, whose identity is dissolved in an amalgam of the accouterments trappings…

— Vaclav Havel

Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.

— Vaclav Havel

Modern science kills God and takes his place on the vacant throne. Science is the sole legitimate arbiter of all relavent truth.

— Vaclav Havel

What's certain is that a totalitarian enclave like Cuba's can't continue to exist, so change will definitely come there, eventually.

— Vaclav Havel

The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human…

— Vaclav Havel

There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them.

— Vaclav Havel

“Our concern is whether we can live with dignity in such a system, whether it serves people rather than people serving it.”

— Václav Havel

The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought.

— Vaclav Havel

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

— Vaclav Havel

Evil must be confronted in its womb, and, if it can't be done otherwise, then it has to be dealt with by…

— Vaclav Havel

People thought they could explain and conquer nature-yet the outcome is that they destroyed it and disinherited themselves from it.

— Vaclav Havel

“Hope does not consist of expecting things to turn out well, it consists of hoping that it will make sense”

— Václav Havel

“The tragic element in modern man, not ignore the meaning of his life, but it bothers him less and less. ”

— Vaclav Havel

Technological measures are important, but equally important is... a consciousness of the commonality of all living beings and an emphasis on shared…

— Vaclav Havel

“Vision is not enough, it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step…

— Václav Havel

Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness a more humane society will not emerge.

— Vaclav Havel

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it…

— Vaclav Havel