Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness a more humane society will not emerge.
Vaclav HavelRead
All human suffering concerns each human being.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the shared nature of human suffering and the responsibility we all have towards one another.
Vaclav Havel's quote highlights the interconnectedness of humanity, suggesting that suffering is not an isolated experience but rather a collective one that affects everyone. It urges individuals to acknowledge and respond to the pain of others, fostering empathy and compassion in a world where we often see ourselves as separate from one another.
In practice
In a speech about human rights, one might quote Havel to stress the importance of supporting the oppressed.
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.
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.
It is not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.
It is only work that is done as freewill offering to humanity and to nature that does not bring with it any binding attachment.
To be ourselves we must have ourselves – possess, if need be re-possess, our life-stories. We must “recollect” ourselves, recollect the inner drama, the narrative, of ourselves. A man needs such a narrative, a continuous inner narrative, to maintain his identity, his self.
Female heterosexuality is not a biological drive or an individual women's erotic attraction or attachment to another human animal which happens to be male. Female heterosexuality is a set of social institutions and practices... Those definitions... are about the oppression and exploitation of women by men.
Ah, there are no longer any children!
Thin ribbons of fear snake bluely through you like a system of rivers. We need a cloudburst or soothing landscape fast, to still this panic. Maybe a field of dracaena, or a vast stand of sugar pines—generous, gum-yielding trees—to fill our minds with vegetable wonder and keep dread at bay.
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