We still have politicians who strive for a different type of country: Kaczynski as well as Orbán in Hungary.
ADAM MICHNIKIsrael is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs can be elected to the parliament in a democratic election.
More Adam Michnik Quotes
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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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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.
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The call to finally clean house is a propaganda tool of the right, which tolerates the leftists who it condemns.
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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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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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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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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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There were free elections in Bulgaria, where the opposition has just won.
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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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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.
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I think it’s always dangerous to make political arguments in a religiously ideological way. And it’s very dangerous to treat as traitors to the American nation those who think differently.
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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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France can never accept that it is no longer a dominating power in the world of culture. This is true both of the French right and the French left. They keep thinking that Americans are primitive cowboys or farmers who do not understand anything.
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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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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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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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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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In a democracy, the government is a reflection of society because people are elected.
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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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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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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.
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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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I believe that a man can only be useful to his country when he can look at it clearly.
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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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After the fall of communism in Poland, we had a post-communist as president for two terms: Aleksander Kwasniewski. He was very good. He brought Poland into NATO and the European Union.
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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.
ADAM MICHNIK