Poland is an ally of the United States of America. It was our duty to show that we are a reliable, loyal, and predictable ally.
ADAM MICHNIKAs 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.
More Adam Michnik Quotes
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There were free elections in Bulgaria, where the opposition has just won.
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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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We still have politicians who strive for a different type of country: Kaczynski as well as Orbán in Hungary.
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I can’t remember any text of mine where I said that one should fight Hitler without violence; I’m not an idiot.
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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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Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become.
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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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America needed our help, and we had to give it.
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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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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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We lack a political culture, a culture of compromise. We in Poland, as well as the Hungarians, have never learned this sort of thing.
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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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They want a gradual coup. If Orbán stayed in power in Hungary or if Kaczynski were to win an election in our country, it would be dangerous.
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Kaczynski appointed a judge to the position of deputy justice minister who had once sentenced current President Bronislaw Komorowski to a prison term.
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Do you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it.
ADAM MICHNIK