As a rule, dictatorships guarantee safe streets and terror of the doorbell. In democracy the streets may be unsafe after dark, but the most likely visitor in the early hours will be the milkman.
ADAM MICHNIKToday we reject the notion of equality between a regime that belongs to the democratic world – even if it is conservative and disagreeable – and a totalitarian dictatorship, whether its colors are black, red, or green.
More Adam Michnik Quotes
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The real struggle for us is for the citizen to cease to be the property of the state.
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Although there is a strong desire for freedom in the countries of Eastern Europe, there is no democratic tradition, so that the risk of anarchy and chaos continues to exist.
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Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs can be elected to the parliament in a democratic election.
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Do you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it.
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Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become.
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Politics and ethics belong to different worlds.
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Even though we are not sure of the links, Iraq was one of the countries that did not lower its flags in mourning on 9/11.
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I think you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein.
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Today we reject the notion of equality between a regime that belongs to the democratic world – even if it is conservative and disagreeable – and a totalitarian dictatorship, whether its colors are black, red, or green.
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Demagoguery and populism are rampant. We are the illegitimate children, the bastards of communism. It shaped our mentality.
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I believe that a man can only be useful to his country when he can look at it clearly.
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Sometimes the type of person from the old machine, who is everything but an appealing figure, happens to win an election. But democracy applies to everyone, not just the noble and the clever.
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The main difference between the Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution was that the former was mostly the work of Communist party members and others who wanted to bring about ‘socialism with a human face.’
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I consider that 9/11 was the day when war was started against my own work and against myself.
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Do you believe in an open society? Then act in the open. Do you believe in a decent and humane society? Then behave decently and humanely.
ADAM MICHNIK