Václav Havel showed Czechoslovakia, and the world, there is hope when there is change.
“The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”
Awarded the Ambassador of Conscience in 2003 by Amnesty International, former prisoner to President
one man sought to see if it was in fact possible to put the morality in politics - and found the answer was:
Yes.
Morality is possible.
Change is possible.
Hope is essential and indefatigable.
“Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity...”
But Václav Havel never wavered. He did not remain silent nor did he move out of the country as the authorities wanted. During the repressive communist rule and although he was forced to take menial jobs, he continued writing, speaking out for human rights, and standing up against the communist dictatorship.
In 1977, he co-founded and co-authored Charter 77, a manifesto signed by hundreds of artists and intellectuals protesting the government's refusal to abide by the Helsinki Agreement on Civil and Political Rights. For his continuing courage, he was jailed several different times, and spent in total five years in prison.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Václav Havel became the leader of the 'Civic Forum', an organization of groups opposed to the Communist Government. I
In November 1989, massive crowds gathered in Wenceslas Square to challenge that government.President Havel showed great leadership and calm in bringing about a peaceful transition. It became known as the 'Velvet Revolution', and in December he became the first president of the new, free Czechoslovakia.
In 1993, he presided over the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia into two independent nations becoming the first President of the new Czech Republic.
“You do not become a 'dissident' just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.”
Again, there is hope when there is change.
Nepal's Kathmandu will come through their democratic change anew.
Let there always be examples of hope steeped in deep integrity to look to, and draw upon.
“The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”
Awarded the Ambassador of Conscience in 2003 by Amnesty International, former prisoner to President
one man sought to see if it was in fact possible to put the morality in politics - and found the answer was:
Yes.
Morality is possible.
Change is possible.
Hope is essential and indefatigable.
“Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity...”
But Václav Havel never wavered. He did not remain silent nor did he move out of the country as the authorities wanted. During the repressive communist rule and although he was forced to take menial jobs, he continued writing, speaking out for human rights, and standing up against the communist dictatorship.
In 1977, he co-founded and co-authored Charter 77, a manifesto signed by hundreds of artists and intellectuals protesting the government's refusal to abide by the Helsinki Agreement on Civil and Political Rights. For his continuing courage, he was jailed several different times, and spent in total five years in prison.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Václav Havel became the leader of the 'Civic Forum', an organization of groups opposed to the Communist Government. I
In November 1989, massive crowds gathered in Wenceslas Square to challenge that government.President Havel showed great leadership and calm in bringing about a peaceful transition. It became known as the 'Velvet Revolution', and in December he became the first president of the new, free Czechoslovakia.
In 1993, he presided over the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia into two independent nations becoming the first President of the new Czech Republic.
“You do not become a 'dissident' just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.”
Again, there is hope when there is change.
Nepal's Kathmandu will come through their democratic change anew.
Let there always be examples of hope steeped in deep integrity to look to, and draw upon.
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