Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness a more humane society will not emerge.
We live in the postmodern world, where everything is possible and almost nothing is certain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the uncertainties and possibilities of the postmodern era, highlighting a complex reality where beliefs and truths are fluid.
Vaclav Havel's quote captures the essence of the postmodern condition, where traditional structures of meaning and certainty are challenged. In a world characterized by rapid change and diverse perspectives, individuals are faced with endless possibilities, yet this multiplicity comes at the cost of stability and certitude. The statement encourages a reflection on how we navigate a reality that is both liberating and disorienting.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker discussing modern challenges in a sociology class could use this quote to illustrate the complexities of contemporary life.
More from Vaclav Havel
All quotes βOwnership 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.
Similar quotes
You know, we are one nation under a god. Yes, you were right. An angry, crack slinging god who decorates with bullets and spent condoms.
The voices blend and fuse in clouded silence: silence that is infinite of space: and swiftly, silently the sound is wafted over regions of cycles of cycles of generations that have lived.
Time has three dimensions and one positive pitch or direction. It is therefore not so much like any river or any sea as like the Sea of Galilee, which has the Jordan running through it and giving a current to the whole.
He wishes he had never entered the funhouse. But he has. Then he wishes he were dead. But he's not. Therefore he will construct funhouses for others and be their secret operator -- though he would rather be among the lovers for whom funhouses are designed.
My skin is kind of sort of brownish pinkish yellowish white. My eyes are greyish blueish green, but I'm told they look orange in the night. My hair is reddish blondish brown, but its silver when its wet, and all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.
Without the Constitution and the Union, we could not have attained the result; but even these, are not the primary cause of our great prosperity. There is something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something, is the principle of "Liberty to all" the principle that clears the path for all-gives hope to all-and, by consequence, enterprize [sic], and industry to all.