Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become.
ADAM MICHNIKAfter the French Revolution, it was not the treason of the king that was in question; it was the existence of the king. You have to be very careful when you judge and execute somebody for being a symbol.
More Adam Michnik Quotes
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If you’re powerful, you are much more likely to be blind and deaf to signals from outside.
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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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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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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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A part of society in our countries would still prefer an authoritarian regime today. These are people with the mentality of Homo sovieticus. But they also exist in France – just think of Le Pen – and even in Finland and Sweden.
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Both men have an authoritarian idea of government; democracy is merely a façade.
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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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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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This is why we will never again say that Chamberlain is no better than Hitler, Roosevelt no better than Stalin, and Nixon no better than Mao Zedong, even if we do condemn Roosevelt for Yalta, Chamberlain for Munich, and Nixon for Watergate.
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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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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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America needed our help, and we had to give it.
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After the French Revolution, it was not the treason of the king that was in question; it was the existence of the king. You have to be very careful when you judge and execute somebody for being a symbol.
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In a democracy, the government is a reflection of society because people are elected.
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We lack a political culture, a culture of compromise. We in Poland, as well as the Hungarians, have never learned this sort of thing.
ADAM MICHNIK