Vaclav Havel Quotes

Lying is a terrible vice, it testifies that one despises God, but fears men.

Sin corrupts even our good deeds. We injure our shoulder trying to pat ourselves on the back.

Nowadays those are rewarded who make right appear wrong.

Hypocrisy is a fearful evil, and every thing which has a tendency to produce it should be avoided.

Only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.

[F]alsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.

. . . if gold rust, what then will iron do?/ For if a priest be foul in whom we trust/ No wonder that a common man should rust. . . .

When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to [profess] things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.

Even a little untruth destroys a man, as a drop of poison ruins milk.

The world has long observed that small acts of immorality, if repeated, will destroy character. It is equally manifest, though never said, that uttering nonsense and half-truth without cease ends by destroying Intellect

Lying is a most disgraceful vice; it first despises God, and then fears men.

Show me a liar, and I'll show you a thief.

Of all things in the world that stink in the nostrils of men, hypocrisy is the worst.

There's two kinds of dirty - dirty and sewer-dirty. Danny Ferry is sewer-dirty and has been ever since he was at Duke.

I want nothing to do with politicians. Their hearts wither away, and die out of their bodies. Their consciences are turned to india-rubber, or to some substance as black as that, and which will stretch as much.

Everybody is full of crap. The coin of the realm is being full of crap. The best people - being full of crap are our leaders and our superstars.

If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even though that civilization may drag out for a considerable period, it grows less and less vital and ultimately tumbles down.

The moment one begins to solder right and wrong together, one's conscience becomes like a piece of plated goods.

When a religion or ideology becomes dominant, the lack of controls will result in widening spirals of license leading to degradation and corruption.

You figure they cheat at the ballpark, they'll cheat on the golf course, they'll cheat in business, and anything else in life. Players may laugh about it and say it's funny, but right down in their heart, they don't think it's funny at all, and they have no respect for a person who cheats.

Cottages have them (falsehood and dissimulation) as well as courts, only with worse manners.

Let nothing dupe you! Such is the horrible maxim that acts as a solvent upon every noble feeling man experiences.

What use of oaths, of promise, or of test, where men regard no God but interest?

I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.

Hypocrisy is a revolting, psychopathic state.