Quotes from Lech Walesa

People always ask me, 'Lech, aren't you afraid of being killed?' And as an answer I shrug my shoulders.

I want to light the lights of patriotism.

Our firm conviction that ours is a just cause and that we must find a peaceful way to attain our goals gave us the strength and the awareness of the limits beyond which we must not go.

The fall of the Berlin Wall makes for nice pictures. But it all started in the shipyards.

There is something of the warrior in me.

Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple physical work. That is why there were wars, the movement of frontiers, war over riches.

The supply of words in the world market is plentiful but the demand is falling. Let deeds follow words now.

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.

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.

I only fear God, and my wife - sometimes.

We need a global parliament, a global government and possibly a global ministry for security.

Our national history has so often filled us with bitterness and the feeling of helplessness.

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

Technology helped end communism by bringing in information from the outside.

I belong to a nation which over the past centuries has experienced many hardships and reverses. The world reacted with silence or with mere sympathy when Polish frontiers were crossed by invading armies and the sovereign state had to succumb to brutal force.

The politicians always told us that the Cold War stand-off could only change by way of nuclear war. None of them believed that such systemic change was possible.

I use many different gadgets connected with computers; I use PCs, laptops and a Palm Pilot. I also use the Internet to visit websites, especially within Polish-language Internet. I usually go to political discussion groups and sites - of course, as I use my real name, people never believe that they are chatting with me!

I am happy that Poland is returning to the road of pluralism and democracy.

Poles finished communism, and Great Britain profited significantly from this.

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

Communism is a monopolistic system, economically and politically.

I am no politician.

You should go to the polls, organize yourself. But once lawmakers are chosen, they must be respected.

Capitalism is in crisis.