Lech Wałęsa Quotes

“Authority must be respected and chosen wisely.”

“Building democracy as an imposition from abroad is a form of imperialism.”

“Communism is a monopolistic system, economically and politically. The system suppresses individual initiative, and the 21st century is all about individualism and freedom. The development of technology supported these directions.”

“Communism prevents organizations from developing by stopping the flow of information. The system is based on police and listening devices and triggers the worst characteristics in humans.”

“Communists are great capitalists, so there is no threat anymore.”

“Deep faith eliminates fear.”

“Democracy is made up of three elements. One is whether the laws support pluralistic principles. The second is whether the people take advantage of these laws. The third element is whether the peoples' wallets are thick enough to benefit from this democracy.”

“Everyone wants a voice in human freedom. There's a fire burning inside all of us.”

“For now, capitalism is working to produce more money but does not see the people. This problem is getting worse across the world.”

“Freedom may be the soul of humanity, but often you have to struggle to prove it.”

“Freedom must be gained step by step, slowly. Freedom is a food which must be carefully administered when people are too hungry for it.”

“He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed.”

“I allowed myself to be taken in by the intellectuals. I believed too much in the Polish intellectuals and followed their advice.”

“I can't imagine the right wing trying to unite without my participation.”

“I got politics and economics moving and then others took over.”

“I have a vision, and I know I'm right.”

“I have always been and will be an enemy of communism, but I love all people.”

“I hope to work harder than ever to help people around the world.”

“I made the right decisions, I set everything on the right course, the reforms are going in the right direction.”

“I must tell you that the supply of words on the world market is plentiful, but the demand is falling.”

“I only fear God, and my wife – sometimes.”

“I think if I got a bicycle from my father, I should give a car to my son.”

“I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things. ”

“In many parts of the world the people are searching for a solution which would link the two basic values: peace and justice. The two are like bread and salt for mankind.”

“In myself I am nothing. It all comes from God and the Virgin Mary.”

“Irrespective of todays judgment and the price we had to pay in this generation, we were able to close an epoch of divisions, different blocs and borders, opening the way for an era of globalization.”

“It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.”

“It is not difficult to censor foreign news. What is difficult today is to censor one's own thoughts, To sit by and see the blind man On the sightless horse, riding into the bottomless abyss.”

“Let the veil of silence fall presently over what happened afterwards. Silence, too, can speak out.”

“Lying at the root of the social agreements of 1980 are the courage, sense of responsibility, and the solidarity of the working people. Both sides have then recognized that an accord must be reached if bloodshed is to be prevented.”