There is only one thing I will not concede: that it might be meaningless to strive in a good cause.

I think its important for one to take a certain distance from oneself.

I am in favor of [actions] that have authenticity, roots, originality, verve, balance, taste, communicativeness, challenge, relevance to their time-in short, things that make sense.

The dissident does not operate in the realm of genuine power at all. He is not seeking power. He has no desire for office and does not gather votes. He does not attempt to charm the public, he offers nothing and promises nothing. He can offer, if anything, only his own skin - and he offers it solely because he has no other way of affirming the truth he stands for. His actions simply articulate his dignity as a citizen, regardless of the cost.

Responsibility is something higher than my family, my country, my firm, my success. Responsibility to the order of Being, where, and only where, they will be properly judged.

The cliché organizes life; it expropriates people's identity; it becomes ruler, defense lawyer, judge, and the law.

When a truth is not given complete freedom, freedom is not complete.