Vaclav Havel

The real test of a man is not when he plays the role that he wants for himself but when he plays…

— 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

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

— Vaclav Havel

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

— Vaclav Havel

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

— Václav Havel

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

— Vaclav Havel

Self-confidence is not pride. Just the contrary: only a person or a nation that is self-confident, in the best sense of the…

— Vaclav Havel

Every consession gives rise to further concessions, we cannot back down, because behind us there is only an abyss, we must keep…

— Vaclav Havel

We are the first atheistic and global, all-embracing civilization. You cannot tell whether you are sitting at an airport in Hong Kong…

— Vaclav Havel

I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the…

— Vaclav Havel

Man is a part of the world, and his spirit is part of the spirit of the world. We are merely a…

— Vaclav Havel

It is not enough to invent new machines, new regulations, or new institutions. We must understand differently and more perfectly the true…

— Vaclav Havel

None of us know all the potentialities that slumber in the spirit of the population, or all the ways in which that…

— Vaclav Havel

Speaking about myself, I've been pleasantly surprised that my older plays are still being performed. Most important is that they still have…

— Vaclav Havel

I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am…

— Vaclav Havel

The law is only one of several imperfect and more or less external ways of defending what is better in life against…

— Vaclav Havel

You may ask what kind of a republic I dream of. Let me reply: I dream of a republic independent, free, and…

— Vaclav Havel

When a person tries to act in accordance with his conscience, when he tries to speak the truth, when he tries to…

— 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…

— 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…

— Vaclav Havel

If [Western] relations with Russia are to be friendly, they must be open and sincere, otherwise there can be no friendship at…

— Vaclav Havel

My dear fellow citizens: For forty years you have heard from my predecessors on this day different variations of the same theme:…

— Vaclav Havel

Drama assumes an order. If only so that it might have - by disrupting that order - a way of surprising.

— Vaclav Havel

Hope is the deep orientation of the human soul that can be held at the darkest times.

— Vaclav Havel

A genuinely fundamental and hopeful improvement in "systems" cannot happen without a significant shift in human consciousness.

— Vaclav Havel

There is only one Art, whose sole criterion is the power, the authenticity, the revelatory insight, the courage and suggestiveness with which…

— Vaclav Havel

The truth is not simply what you think it is; it is also the circumstances in which it is said, and to…

— Vaclav Havel

By perceiving ourselves as part of the river, we take responsibility for the river as a whole.

— Vaclav Havel

The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that…

— 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…

— Vaclav Havel

Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time,…

— 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

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

— 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

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

— 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

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

— Vaclav Havel