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There is no shortage of politicians who make a habit of shooting from the hip, but it is much rarer to find one who speaks from the heart. Vaclav Havel knows no other way to speak, or to write. Both as a dissident and as a playwright it was his sworn purpose for many years to combat evil with nothing but truth. As president of Czechoslovakia, and now of the Czech Republic, he has clung to that habit, refusing to turn over either his conscience or his voice to political handlers and professional speech-writers. Instead he assumes the additional burden - for him, it is a distinct pleasure - of composing all of his oratory.
This volume consists of thirty-five of these essays, written between the years 1990 and 1996, that manage to be both profoundly personal and profoundly political. Havel writes of totalitarianism, its miseries and the nonetheless difficult emergence from it. He describes how his country and the other post-communist countries are learning democracy from scratch and are encountering obstacles from inside and out. He marvels at the single technology-driven civilization that envelops the globe, and the challenges this presents to multicultural realities. And he reminds us that - contrary to all appearances - common sense, moderation, responsibility, good taste, feeling, instinct, and conscience are not alien to politics, but are the very key to its long-term success.
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Subjects
Citizenship, Civilization, Modern, Modern Civilization, Moral and ethical aspects, Moral and ethical aspects of Citizenship, Moral and ethical aspects of Modern civilization, Political ethics, Politics and government, Post-communism, Responsibility, Truth, Politische Ethik, Morale politique, Democratisering, Ethische aspecten, Politiek, Aufsatzsammlung, Citizenship -- Moral and ethical aspects, Civilization, Modern -- 1950- -- Moral and ethical aspects, Czech Republic -- Politics and government -- Moral and ethical aspectsPlaces
Czech Republic, Tschechische RepublikTimes
1950-Showing 3 featured editions. View all 3 editions?
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1
The art of the impossible: politics as morality in practice : speeches and writings, 1990-1996
1998, Fromm International
in English
- 1st Fromm International pbk.
0880641959 9780880641951
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2
The art of the impossible: politics as morality in practice : speeches and writings, 1990-1996
1997, Knopf, Distributed by Random House
in English
- 1st ed.
0679451064 9780679451068
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3
The art of the impossible: politics as morality in practice : speeches and writings, 1990-1996
1997, Knopf, Distributed by Random House
in English
- 1st ed.
0679451064 9780679451068
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Published in
New York
Edition Notes
Many of the selections in this work were first published in the Czech Republic as part of Toward a civil society in 1994 and other selections were originally published in different forms in numerous magazines.
Includes index.
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