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 MICHNIKWe lack a political culture, a culture of compromise. We in Poland, as well as the Hungarians, have never learned this sort of thing.
ADAM MICHNIKEven 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.
ADAM MICHNIKThe 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.’
ADAM MICHNIKStart doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become.
ADAM MICHNIKThere were free elections in Bulgaria, where the opposition has just won.
ADAM MICHNIKDemagoguery and populism are rampant. We are the illegitimate children, the bastards of communism. It shaped our mentality.
ADAM MICHNIKBoth men have an authoritarian idea of government; democracy is merely a façade.
ADAM MICHNIKPolitics and ethics belong to different worlds.
ADAM MICHNIKI think you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein.
ADAM MICHNIKIf you’re powerful, you are much more likely to be blind and deaf to signals from outside.
ADAM MICHNIKIsrael is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs can be elected to the parliament in a democratic election.
ADAM MICHNIKSometimes 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.
ADAM MICHNIKAmerica needed our help, and we had to give it.
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.
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.
ADAM MICHNIKWe still have politicians who strive for a different type of country: Kaczynski as well as Orbán in Hungary.
ADAM MICHNIK