Adam Michnik Quotes

Adam Michnik is a Polish editor, journalist, and human rights activist. He played a crucial role in the anti-communist movement in Poland and co-founded the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. Michnik's work in journalism and activism has made him a prominent figure in the fight for democracy and freedom of the press.

Politics is the art of achieving political goals - of achieving what is possible in a given situation - that is, in a situation that has its conditions and its limits.

For those of us imprisoned in Poland, the Prague S... -Adam Michnik

For those of us imprisoned in Poland, the Prague Spring was a harbinger of hope.

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.'

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.

An ethical action, like an unethical action, is usually analyzed by politicians purely in pragmatic terms.

The threat to Russia isn't liberal Europe or America. It is nonliberal Islam and nonliberal China. Russia has to change. It can't be otherwise. It will take time. You have to be patient.

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.

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. America needed our help, and we had to give it.

If you're powerful, you are much more likely to be... -Adam Michnik

If you're powerful, you are much more likely to be blind and deaf to signals from outside.

I do not accept being a prisoner of fear. Of Communism, of fascism. That, one can bear. But of one's fear. No. Never.

I believe that a man can only be useful to his cou... -Adam Michnik

I believe that a man can only be useful to his country when he can look at it clearly.

The ethics of journalism are one thing. Another th... -Adam Michnik

The ethics of journalism are one thing. Another thing is the ethics of business.

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.

I do know that you have to choose between the logic of reconciliation and the logic of justice. Pure justice leads to new civil war. I prefer the negotiable revolution.

I consider that 9/11 was the day when war was started against my own work and against myself. 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.

Every revolution, bloody or not, has two phases. The first phase is defined by the struggle for freedom, the second by the struggle for power and revenge on the votaries of the ancien regime.

Politics and ethics belong to different worlds.

Discovering the context

The quote suggests that politics and ethics are separate domains with distinct principles or values, indicating that they may not always align or coincide.

Why am I such a Euro-enthusiast? Because I knew it... -Adam Michnik

Why am I such a Euro-enthusiast? Because I knew it was an anchor of democracy.

The Polish freedom movement of 1968 lost its confrontation with police violence; the Prague Spring was crushed by the armies of five Warsaw Pact members. But in both countries, 1968 gave birth to a new political consciousness.

Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of Solidarity is based on an opposite premise - that there are causes worth suffering and dying for.

In Czechoslovakia in 1968, communist reformers appealed to democratic ideals that were deeply rooted in the country's pre-second world war past.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs can be elected to the parliament in a democratic election.

Politics is the art of realizing what there is to ... -Adam Michnik

Politics is the art of realizing what there is to realize.

Adam Michnik Quotes

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