WORDS FROM A GREAT MIND

Václav Havel Quotes

Czech playwright, dissident & president

Born: 5 October 1936
Died: 18 December 2011
Lived in: Prague & Hrádeček, Czechia; Czechoslovakia

Václav Havel was a playwright and dissident who became president of Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution, and later president of the Czech Republic. His essays and speeches explored personal responsibility, hope and the moral demands of public life.

A LESSER-KNOWN DETAIL

Addressing the United States Congress soon after taking office, he described life itself as his school for the presidency.

Words by Václav Havel

“Hope is not the same thing as optimism.”

Disturbing the Peace · Published English translation

Václav Havel ↗

“My only school was life itself.”

Address to US Congress, 21 February 1990

Václav Havel ↗

“Democracy in the full sense of the word will always remain an ideal.”

Address to US Congress, 21 February 1990

Václav Havel ↗

“Our country is not flourishing.”

New Year Address, 1 January 1990 · On post-communist Czechoslovakia

Václav Havel ↗

“Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion, humility, and forgiveness lost their depth and dimensions.”

New Year Address, 1 January 1990 · On the preceding communist regime

Václav Havel ↗