I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government, where words can prove mightier than ten military divisions.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Havel claims that words and truth can destabilize governments and are more powerful than military force.
- In plain terms
- Words and ideas can change governments more than armies can.
- What can you take from it?
- Truth and speech have immense power against oppression.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What power do your words hold?
- How can language challenge authority?
Another view
Words alone may not stop violent force without organization.
More from Vaclav Havel
There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them. Besides, to distrust words, and indict them for the horrors that m…
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