20+ Adam Michnik Quotes On Culture, World

Adam Michnik is a Polish historian, essayist and editor. He is the editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, which he co-founded in 1989. He is also a former dissident and a leader of the Solidarity movement in Poland during the 1980s. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Adam Michnik on love, life, leadership.

Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become. Do you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it. 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. — Adam Michnik

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. — Adam Michnik

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

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. — Adam Michnik

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

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. — Adam Michnik

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. — Adam Michnik

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

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. The call to finally clean house is a propaganda tool of the right, which tolerates the leftists who it condemns. Kaczynski appointed a judge to the position of deputy justice minister who had once sentenced current President Bronislaw Komorowski to a prison term. — Adam Michnik

I think you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein. — Adam Michnik

The real struggle for us is for the citizen to cease to be the property of the state. — Adam Michnik

There were free elections in Bulgaria, where the opposition has just won. In a democracy, the government is a reflection of society because people are elected. 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. — Adam Michnik

Politics and ethics belong to different worlds. — Adam Michnik

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

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. — Adam Michnik

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. — Adam Michnik

We lack a political culture, a culture of compromise. We in Poland, as well as the Hungarians, have never learned this sort of thing. 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. Demagoguery and populism are rampant. We are the illegitimate children, the bastards of communism. It shaped our mentality. — Adam Michnik

We still have politicians who strive for a different type of country: Kaczynski as well as Orbán in Hungary. 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. Both men have an authoritarian idea of government; democracy is merely a façade. — Adam Michnik

I can't remember any text of mine where I said that one should fight Hitler without violence; I'm not an idiot. — Adam Michnik

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.' — Adam Michnik

Life Lessons by Adam Michnik

1. Adam Michnik's work demonstrates the importance of standing up for what you believe in and fighting for justice, even in the face of adversity.
2. His commitment to non-violence and dialogue as a means of achieving change is an inspiring example of how to effect positive change in the world.
3. His career shows that one person can make a huge difference in the world and that it is possible to make a difference even when the odds are stacked against you.