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"I also helped write the five-page statement of principles that Civic Forum issued in late November. That was the first public expression of what the new government wanted to do."
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"Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us."

"I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world."

"There shall be no end to the government of God."

"For a country to have a great writer is like having another government. That's why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones."

"No more distressing moment can ever face a British government than that which requires it to come to a hard, fast and specific decision."

"The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power."

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."

"Democracy is not so much a form of government as a set of principles."

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."

"If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep."
Explore more quotes by Vaclav Klaus


"I was paid to read Western economic texts. In a way, the regime paid for their own undermining."


"We will also allow state companies to sell shares to their workers and will pass a law allowing citizens to start companies of their own with no limits on the number of employees or on the firm's output."


"That means following a very restrictive fiscal and monetary policy which will squeeze the monopolies and cut their subsidies. On the micro level we will allow other economic agents, both domestic and foreign, to compete with them."


"Privatization of the state-owned economy is not yet on the agenda. We cannot do it immediately; my colleagues would not agree to it. But we must put all forms of ownership on an equal footing immediately and let different types of ownership compete with the state firms."


"We must have the time to create strict rules so that property is not sold by Communist managers for a low price. They often get payments under the table to sell to the first bidder. This does not build public support for a market economy."


"The events in the square, of course, made a deep impression on me and many other parents."


"To pursue a so-called Third Way is foolish. We had our experience with this in the 1960s when we looked for a socialism with a human face. It did not work, and we must be explicit that we are not aiming for a more efficient version of a system that has failed."


"We served on the editorial board of a literary monthly called Face in 1968 and 1969. He was a young writer, and I was also interested in broad cultural issues. We agreed on all major issues and became friends."


"It is what makes the reform process an art, not just a science. You have to develop a strategy that tells you what reform measures you should follow and in what sequence."
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