Gustav Heinemann

Everywhere, authority and tradition have to justify themselves in the face of questions.

— Gustav Heinemann

Insecurity and resignation mingle with the hope for a better order.

— Gustav Heinemann

War is not the quintessential emergency in which man has to prove himself, as my generation learned at its school desks in…

— Gustav Heinemann

I have left the federal government and the German Bundestag; I have resigned from all my positions in the Social Democratic Party…

— Gustav Heinemann

Liberal democracy must finally become the vital element of our society.

— Gustav Heinemann

I appeal to the responsibility of the blocs and the major powers, not to seek security in the arms race, but rather…

— Gustav Heinemann

Beyond peace, there is no longer any existence possible.

— Gustav Heinemann

The secret of big and revolutionary actions also consists in discovering the tiny step that is simultaneously a strategic step, insofar as…

— Gustav Heinemann

Some fatherlands are difficult. Germany is one of them. But it is our fatherland. Here is where we live and work.

— Gustav Heinemann

We have to recognize that the freedom of the individual has to be protected not only from the power of the state,…

— Gustav Heinemann

The time has come - and must come - for multilateral conversations about a secure peace in all of Europe.

— Gustav Heinemann

Therefore it does not help to sneer at the imperfection of today's reality or to preach absolutes as a daily agenda.

— Gustav Heinemann

In this life of ours we remain directed toward the relative utopia of a better world, and sensibly this can be the…

— Gustav Heinemann

Ladies and gentlemen, on the occasion of my election I received many letters from people representing all segments of the population and…

— Gustav Heinemann

Not less, but more democracy - that is the demand, that is the great goal that we have to prescribe for ourselves,…

— Gustav Heinemann

Trust cannot be commanded; and yet it is also correct that the only one who earns trust is the one who is…

— Gustav Heinemann

Ladies and gentlemen, I take office at a time in which the world is living in extreme contradictions.

— Gustav Heinemann

The first thing I see is the obligation to serve peace.

— Gustav Heinemann

One of our most noble political tasks is to open up trust.

— Gustav Heinemann

Disarmament requires trust.

— Gustav Heinemann