Top 80 Lech Walesa Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I’m lazy. But it’s the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn’t like walking or carrying things.”

— Lech Walesa

2. “Now is the era of intellect, information and the Internet.”

— Lech Walesa

3. “The world needs leaders of vision instead of leaders on television.”

— Lech Walesa

4. “If there were fish in the lake, fishing would make no sense.”

— Lech Walesa

5. “Deep faith eliminates fear.”

— Lech Walesa

6. “He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed.”

— Lech Walesa

7. “Words are plentiful; deeds are precious.”

— Lech Walesa

8. “It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.”

— Lech Walesa

9. “You have riches and freedom here but I feel no sense of faith or direction. You have so many computers, why don’t you use them in the search for love?”

— Lech Walesa

10. “We hold our heads high, despite the price we have paid, because freedom is priceless.”

— Lech Walesa

11. “He who once became aware of the power of Solidarity and who breathed the air of freedom will not be crushed.”

— Lech Walesa

12. “We must be courageous but also reasonable. The world admires us for walking a tightrope without falling off. It asks us to keep our balance.”

— Lech Walesa

13. “There is something of the warrior in me.”

— Lech Walesa

14. “I had my own battle tactics.”

— Lech Walesa

15. “When I was fighting communism, there was rapid development of satellite television and cell phones, and communism, to survive, would have to block all these information devices.”

— Lech Walesa

16. “I believe that any violation of privacy is nothing good.”

— Lech Walesa

17. “One could always do more, faster and cleverer, but democracy has its own rhythm.”

— Lech Walesa

18. “This is the moment of your defeat; you have just put in the last nails in the coffin of communism.”

— Lech Walesa

19. “Power is only important as an instrument for service to the powerless.”

— Lech Walesa

20. “The fall of the Berlin Wall makes for nice pictures. But it all started in the shipyards.”

— Lech Walesa

21. “I only fear God, and my wife – sometimes.”

— Lech Walesa

22. “As a nation we have the right to decide our own affairs, to mould our own future. This does not pose any danger to anybody. Our nation is fully aware of the responsibility for its own fate in the complicated situation of the contemporary world.”

— Lech Walesa

23. “Everyone wants a voice in human freedom. There’s a fire burning inside all of us.”

— Lech Walesa

24. “I believed it would succeed. It was Polish Solidarity and its victory that put an end to the old era when what mattered were borders and rival blocs.”

— Lech Walesa

25. “Freedom must be gained step by step, slowly. Freedom is a food which must be carefully administered when people are too hungry for it.”

— Lech Walesa

26. “The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.”

— Lech Walesa

27. “If once again Germany destabilizes Europe, then Germany will be not be divided again, but wiped off the map. East and West have the necessary technology in order to enforce this verdict. If Germany begins again, there is no other solution.”

— Lech Walesa

28. “Let the veil of silence fall presently over what happened afterwards. Silence, too, can speak out.”

— Lech Walesa

29. “I want to light the lights of patriotism.”

— Lech Walesa

30. “In myself I am nothing. It all comes from God and the Virgin Mary.”

— Lech Walesa

31. “Communism prevents organizations from developing by stopping the flow of information. The system is based on police and listening devices and triggers the worst characteristics in humans.”

— Lech Walesa

32. “I hope to work harder than ever to help people around the world.”

— Lech Walesa

33. “When he saw injustice, he wanted to do away with it. He saw communism, and he wanted to put an end to it.”

— Lech Walesa

34. “I have always been and will be an enemy of communism, but I love all people.”

— Lech Walesa

35. “Without a single shot we’ve managed to liberate the world of communism but now there is a need for a global solidarity.”

— Lech Walesa

36. “In many parts of the world the people are searching for a solution which would link the two basic values: peace and justice. The two are like bread and salt for mankind.”

— Lech Walesa

37. “Our firm conviction that ours is a just cause and that we must find a peaceful way to attain our goals gave us the strength and the awareness of the limits beyond which we must not go.”

— Lech Walesa

38. “I belong to the generation of workers who, born in the villages and hamlets of rural Poland, had the opportunity to acquire education and find employment in industry, becoming in the course conscious of their rights and importance in society.”

— Lech Walesa

39. “My youth passed at the time of the country’s reconstruction from the ruins and ashes of the war in which my nation never bowed to the enemy paying the highest price in the struggle.”

— Lech Walesa

40. “My country is in the grips of a major economic crisis. This is causing dramatic consequences for the very existence of Polish families. A permanent economic crisis in Poland may also have serious repercussions for Europe. Thus, Poland ought to be helped and deserves help.”

— Lech Walesa

41. “Communism is a monopolistic system, economically and politically. The system suppresses individual initiative, and the 21st century is all about individualism and freedom. The development of technology supported these directions.”

— Lech Walesa

42. “The defense of our rights and our dignity, as well as efforts never to let ourselves to be overcome by the feeling of hatred – this is the road we have chosen.”

— Lech Walesa

43. “When I recall my own path of life I cannot but speak of the violence, hatred and lies. A lesson drawn from such experiences, however, was that we can effectively oppose violence only if we ourselves do not resort to it.”

— Lech Walesa

44. “I will talk and act, not on my knees, but with prudence.”

— Lech Walesa

45. “The politicians always told us that the Cold War stand-off could only change by way of nuclear war. None of them believed that such systemic change was possible.”

— Lech Walesa

46. “The program of our movement stems from the fundamental moral laws and order.”

— Lech Walesa

47. “I must tell you that the supply of words on the world market is plentiful, but the demand is falling.”

— Lech Walesa

48. “There should be a left leg and a right leg. And I’ll be in between.”

— Lech Walesa

49. “We need a global parliament, a global government and possibly a global ministry for security.”

— Lech Walesa

50. “You should go to the polls, organize yourself. But once lawmakers are chosen, they must be respected.”

— Lech Walesa