The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.
Lech Walesa
It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.
I want to light the lights of patriotism.
I'm lazy. But it's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things.
We hold our heads high, despite the price we have paid, because freedom is priceless.
I'm a man of faith. I only fear God, and my wife - sometimes.
He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed.
Communism is a monopolistic system, economically and politically. The system suppresses individual initiative, and the 21st century is all about individualism and freedom. The development of technology supported these directions.
The fall of the Berlin Wall makes for nice pictures. But it all started in the shipyards.
The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.
I have always been and will be an enemy of communism, but I love all people.
We shall not yield to violence. We shall not be deprived of union freedoms. We shall never agree with sending people to prison for their convictions.
Democracy is made up of three elements. One is whether the laws support pluralistic principles. The second is whether the people take advantage of these laws. The third element is whether the peoples' wallets are thick enough to benefit from this democracy.
As a nation we have the right to decide our own affairs, to mould our own future. This does not pose any danger to anybody. Our nation is fully aware of the responsibility for its own fate in the complicated situation of the contemporary world.
Authority must be respected and chosen wisely.
Capitalism is in crisis.
I believe that any violation of privacy is nothing good.
I am happy that Poland is returning to the road of pluralism and democracy.
I got politics and economics moving and then others took over.
My character and personality is today and tomorrow; I do not work well remembering further back.
No minority should climb all over the majority.
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!
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.
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.
After the war, Germany fully confessed to all its dirty tricks. It's necessary to is draw a line under the past, even if people did something evil. Until we do, wounds won't heal.
Communism in Cuba will collapse sooner or later because you can't control the free flow of information. Communism prevents organizations from developing by stopping the flow of information. The system is based on police and listening devices and triggers the worst characteristics in humans.
When I was fighting communism, there was rapid development of satellite television and cell phones, and communism, to survive, would have to block all these information devices.
I don't have regrets I didn't spend more time with my family because I've lived my life to the full, and you can't look back in regret.
Now is the era of intellect, information and the Internet.
Obviously people want social calm, but if you do not let clever and ingenious people to participate, obviously there must be some dormant volcano that will erupt, sooner or later.
One could always do more, faster and cleverer, but democracy has its own rhythm.
My struggle led to the reunification of Germany and the creation of the state of Europe. We destroyed the borders; globalisation is on the horizon.
In myself I am nothing. It all comes from God and the Virgin Mary.
Dictators and oppressors should continue to fear me because I will be here for a long time.
I must tell you that the supply of words on the world market is plentiful, but the demand is falling.
People are most important.
I made the right decisions, I set everything on the right course, the reforms are going in the right direction.
I allowed myself to be taken in by the intellectuals. I believed too much in the Polish intellectuals and followed their advice.
This conviction brought me, in the summer of 1978, to the Free Trade Unions - formed by a group of courageous and dedicated people who came out in the defense of the workers' rights and dignity.
I had my own battle tactics.
I risked my life.
Freedom must be gained step by step, slowly. Freedom is a food which must be carefully administered when people are too hungry for it.
I most sincerely wish that the world in which we live be free from the threat of a nuclear holocaust and from the ruinous arms race. It is my cherished desire that peace be not separated from freedom which is the right of every nation. This I desire and for this I pray.
I represent the concept that pluralism is essential, union pluralism. I made an oath about this.
I have a vision, and I know I'm right.
Lying at the root of the social agreements of 1980 are the courage, sense of responsibility, and the solidarity of the working people. Both sides have then recognized that an accord must be reached if bloodshed is to be prevented.
Communism is a monopolistic system, economically and politically.
I cannot stand for more than half an hour in one place.
The supply of words in the world market is plentiful but the demand is falling. Let deeds follow words now.
You have riches and freedom here but I feel no sense of faith or direction. You have so many computers, why don't you use them in the search for love?
