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Without free, self-respecting, and autonomous citizens there can be no free and independent nations. Without internal peace, that is, peace among citizens and between the citizens and the state, there can be no guarantee of external peace.

— Václav Havel Living in Truth (1986)

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Peace

More quotes by Václav Havel

The idea of human rights and freedoms must be an integral part of any meaningful world order.

The Need for Transcendence in the Postmodern World (1994)

The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning — in other words, of absurdity — the more energetically meaning is sought.

Disturbing the Peace (1986)

If the world is to change for the better it must start with a change in human consciousness, in the very humanness of modern man.

Disturbing the Peace (1986)

The truth is not simply what you think it is; it is also the circumstances in which it is said, and to whom, why, and how it is said.

Disturbing the Peace (1986)

Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.

Disturbing the Peace (1986)

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.

Erasmus Adagia (1508)

There is a price which is too great to pay for peace, and that price can be put in one word. One cannot pay the price of self-respect.

Woodrow Wilson

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

George Washington

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Václav Havel (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.