If [Western] relations with Russia are to be friendly, they must be open and sincere, otherwise there can be no friendship at all. That means one should be able to speak openly about everything at meetings and conferences. It shouldn't be that we can't discuss the killing of journalists in Russia, or the suppression of human rights, or all the warning signs surfacing in Russia because of oil and gas or other economic reasons. It's a big problem, but it's the same in Western relations with Arab states.

Nothing is more powerful than individuals acting out of their own conscience.

It lies in human nature that where you experience your first laughs, you also remember the age kindly.

I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I did not carry hope in me.

Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred.

Those who rebelled against totalitarian rule and those who simply managed to remain themselves and think freely, were all persecuted. We should not forget any of those who paid for our present freedom in one way or another.

The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought.