Vaclav Havel

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

The only way to self-preservation is to surrender.

Politics is the art of the impossible.

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

Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and unforeseeably influence the state of affairs.

I really do inhabit a fantastic and mystical world, a world in which I have been able to make a great many things come true.

Without free, independent, and strong popular opinion, there can be no democracy.

The primary purpose of a free government is to protect the freedom of its citizens.

It is not enough to simply say 'no' to communism. We must also say 'yes' to something else.

Keeping a low profile is a good way to survive, but it's not a good way to live.

The more totalitarian the system, the more it demands conformity, not just outwardly, but inwardly.

I am not a fan of grand visions. I prefer small, concrete steps.

One must not lose hope, for hope is a dimension of the soul.

History has taught us that we cannot rely on others to do our work for us.

The future is open. It depends on us.

A genuine, all-encompassing and profound change can only come from a change in human consciousness, from the human spirit.

I am not a professional politician. I am a professional playwright.

The world is not a machine. We are not cogs in a machine.

Fear is the main source of the atrophy of the will, which is the main characteristic of the modern age.

What is important is to live in truth.