I allowed myself to be taken in by the intellectuals. I believed too much in the Polish intellectuals and followed their advice.

I believed it would succeed. It was Polish Solidarity and its victory that put an end to the old era when what mattered were borders and rival blocs.

The world needs leaders of vision instead of leaders on television.

The politicians always told us that the Cold War stand-off could only change by way of nuclear war. None of them believed that such systemic change was possible.

Lying at the root of the social agreements of 1980 are the courage, sense of responsibility, and the solidarity of the working people. Both sides have then recognized that an accord must be reached if bloodshed is to be prevented.

I don't like to look a man in the eye.

[Without Pope John Paul II] there would be no end of Communism or at least much later, and the end would have been bloody.