The Wall was the actual symbol of a defeat, of inferiority.

I was in psychological warfare in World War II, so I know psychological warfare when I see it.

If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't walk upright, you always go with your head down.

The idea of a socialism with a human face was something that I absolutely could support, because it was my idea from the very first.

These were the things that the government supplied you with - in turn, of course, demanding obedience. But you must not imagine that it was a constant feeling of outrage that was in the minds of people and the hearts of people.

People who were not active in the intellectual life of the country could go on without feeling restricted, except they could not go where they wanted. They could not cross the border to the West whenever they liked.

You had censorship. If you brought a manuscript to the publisher, you knew he would suggest changes. If you wanted to write and speak what you thought had to be written and spoken, you had to act against all these suppressive rules.