A state that denies its citizens their basic rights becomes a danger to its neighbors as well: internal arbitrary rule will be reflected in arbitrary external relations. The suppression of public opinion, the abolition of public competition for power and its public exercise opens the way for the state power to arm itself in any way it sees fit. … A state that does not hesitate to lie to its own people will not hesitate to lie to other states.

More quotes by Vaclav Havel

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"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good."

- Vaclav Havel

Hope

"Hope is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out."

- Vaclav Havel

Hope

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

- Vaclav Havel

Self-awareness

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

- Vaclav Havel

Self-awareness

"Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."

- Vaclav Havel

Strength

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"The worth of a person lies in their character, not in their looks."

- Beauty and the Beast

Integrity

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Integrity

"Be content to act, and leave the talking to others."

- Baltasar Gracian

Integrity

"Fake people have an image to maintain. Real people just don’t care."

- Hachiman Hikigaya

Integrity

"What is right? What is wrong? In this mixed up world, deciding what is right and wrong is not easy. You can’t just go by somebody else’s rules. If you let yourself be controlled like that, you’ll just become a puppet that can’t make decisions on its own. You have to live by your rules."

- Gintoki Sakata

Integrity