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Loading... The Art of the Impossible: Politics As Morality in Practice Speeches and Writings, 1990-1996 (edition 1998)by Václav Havel (Author), Anson Paul (Translator), Paul Wilson (Foreword)
Work InformationThe Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice by Václav Havel
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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. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)943.7105History and Geography Europe Germany and central Europe Czech Republic and Slovakia Czech RepublicLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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This book is a selection of speeches he made after becoming Czech President, but these speeches are more than exhortations. They are clear, insightful statements of what political & moral acts should be, and how to accomplish them.
Oh, would that each country contained one person of his character & capabilities. ( )