Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness a more humane society will not emerge.
Vaclav HavelRead
Human rights, human freedoms... and human dignity have their deepest roots somewhere outside the perceptible world... while the state is a human creation, human beings are the creation of God.
Interpretation
The essence of human rights and dignity comes from a higher power rather than societal constructs.
Vaclav Havel suggests that human rights and dignity are fundamentally derived from a divine source, which transcends human-made institutions like the state. He highlights that while the state is an artificial creation, the intrinsic rights of human beings are rooted in something greater, implying a moral and spiritual dimension to our existence that should guide how we treat one another.
In practice
Use this quote during a lecture on human rights to emphasize the spiritual foundation of these concepts.
Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness a more humane society will not emerge.
Ownership is not a vice, not something to be ashamed of, but rather a commitment, and an instrument by which the general good can be served.
In my opinion, theater shouldn't give advice to citizens.
Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life.
The exercise of power is determined by thousands of interactions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, all the more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyone has a small part of himself in both.
Man is not an omipotent master of the universe, allowed to do with impunity whatever he thinks, or whatever suits him at the moment. The world we live in is made of an immensely complex and mysterious tissue about which we know very little and which we must treat with utmost humility.
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.
From the Balkans to Africa, from Asia to the Middle East, we have witnessed the weakening or absence of effective governance leading to the ravaging of human rights and the abandonment of longstanding humanitarian principles. We need competent and responsible states to meet the needs of "we the peoples" for whom the UN was created. And the world's peoples will not be fully served unless peace, development and human rights, the three pillars of the UN, are advanced together with equal vigour.
All people deserve to be treated with dignity and have their human rights respected, no matter who they are or whom they love.
Violence against women in all its forms is a human rights violation. It's not something that any culture, religion or tradition propagates.
What matters is abuse, and how it is anchored in a religion that denies women their rights as humans. What matters is that atrocities against women and children are carried out in Europe. What matters is that governments and societies must stop hiding behind a hollow pretense of tolerance so that they can recognize and deal with the problem.
This is our country, our water. We're entitled to a good life. It's a human rights issue.
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