#václav havel

[unreconstructedfangirl]

The kind of hope I often think about (especially in situations that are particularly hopeless, such as prison) I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us or we don’t; it is a dimension of the soul; it’s not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.

- Václav Havel, from Disturbing the Peace

[zluty-spendlik]

Máme hole v ruce :)!

[dk-thrive]

Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope.

— Václav Havel, said in 1968 after Prague Spring. Found in "An Introduction to W.R. Bion's 'A Memoir of the Future'" (Taylor & Francis, May 15, 2018)

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

This is a really interesting lecture and I highly recommend it.

[cocosse]

“Our concern is whether we can live with dignity in such a system, whether it serves people rather than people serving it.”

Václav Havel, 1936-2011

Jon Klassen, The Dark, 2013

[marmota-b]

I remembered, again, that quote about hope from Václav Havel that speaks to me so much:

“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

And I realised this is Puddleglum, to a T.

[rafaelmartinez67]

La primera pequeña mentira 

que se contó en nombre de la verdad, 

la primera pequeña injusticia 

que se cometió en nombre de la justicia, 

la primera minúscula inmoralidad 

en nombre de la moral, 

siempre significarán el seguro camino del fin.

(Václav Havel)

[geminicollisionworks]

Happy birthday to the late, great Václav Havel.

It was my great pleasure to produce, design, and direct a production of Havel's play Temptation at The Brick in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as part of Untitled Theater Company #61's Havel Festival in 2006.

President Havel and numerous Czech luminaries (including Madeline Albright) attended the show on November 17, the 17th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution (a BIG surprise for the cast), and our little 75-seat Off-Off-Broadway theater housed in an old garage threw a lovely party (with a live band playing Velvet Underground covers). I spent a nice time outside (pictured) having Pilsner Urquells with the playwright and being stunned (you can see Althaar company members Fred Backus and Alyssa Simon, who were in the show, behind Havel's head above) as Havel praised the production to the skies. At an earlier meeting, I had him sign the front page of my directing script for luck. I guess it worked.

Havel, before and after this event, has been a guide and inspiration to me as an artist, worker, citizen, and leader, and having had the chance to talk with him here and on other occasions, just chatting casually as two fellow working playwrights and craftsmen, remain as favorite memories.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

I swear, a lot of the “but ordinary people have no agency you can’t blame them for the system they live in 😫” brand of idiocy would go poof the moment the western so-called progressives asked themselves if perhaps Easterners contributed to political philosophy literally anything of note ever and then stumbled upon The Power of the Powerless.

[prcg]

Cómo combatir la censura sin importar quién gane las elecciones

En el mitin del presidente Trump en el Madison Square Garden, la multitud reflejó una conciencia cada vez mayor de que Estados Unidos está al borde del precipicio, y que Estados Unidos también está a punto de recuperar su gloria. Su euforia (y sentido de comunidad) estaba por las nubes. Pero también expresaron algo menos definible, algo que viene con la liberación: una enorme sensación de alivio.…

[wmlz]

„Man kann einen Abgrund nicht in zwei Sprüngen überqueren. Man muss den mutigen Sprung mit einem Mal tun.“

Václav Havel

[favegiff]

[mijnmobielemoleskine]

Hoop is ergens voor werken omdat het goed is, niet omdat het kans van slagen heeft. Hoop is niet hetzelfde als optimisme evenmin de overtuiging dat iets goed zal aflopen. Wel de zekerheid dat iets zinvol is afgezien van de afloop, het resultaat.

- Václav Havel

[johnesimpson]

We Know What We Know, Even If We Don't Know We Do

Václav Havel, John W. Gardner, Jenny Ofill: 'We Know What We Know, Even If We Don't Know We Do'

[Image: “Lost: The Way In,” by John E. Simpson. (Photo shared here under a Creative Commons License; for more information, see this page at RAMH.)] From whiskey river: There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and…

[bernamegeh]

Václav Havel Kimdir

1936’da Prag’da doğdu. Prag Sanat Akademisi’nde drama üzerine eğitim gören Havel, en bilinen tiyatro eseri The Garden Party’yi 1963 yılında yayımladı. 1968’deki Prag Baharı’ndan sonra gerçekleşen Varşova Paktı’nın Çekoslovakya’yı İşgali’nden sonra kara listeye alınarak siyasi faaliyetlerde bulunması ve yazı yazması yasaklanan Havel, yaklaşık 4 yıl cezaevinde yattı. Ancak çalışmalarını ve…