Natan Sharansky Quotes

• All the resources of a superpower cannot isolate a man who hears the voice of freedom; a voice that I heard from the very chamber of my soul.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

• Will dissent be permitted? The answer to that question will determine whether the society is a free society or a fear society.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Dissent

  Tags in Determine

• When we are unwilling to draw clear moral lines between free societies and fear societies, when we are unwilling to call the former good and the latter evil, we will not be able to advance the cause of peace because peace cannot be disconnected from freedom.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Latter, Unwilling

• Unfortunately, little attention was paid to how Arafat ruled. In fact, some saw the harsh and repressive nature of Arafat’s regime as actually bolstering the prospects for peace.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Unfortunately, Regime

• To understand why dictators have a problem with making peace – or at least a genuine peace – the link between the nature of a regime and its external behavior must be understood.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Dictators, Link

• This scepticism is the same scepticism I heard a generation ago in the USSR when few thought that a democratic transformation behind the iron curtain was possible.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Generation, Ussr

• There were no dissidents then in the USSR because they were all killed.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Dissidents, Killed

• The two most important things that can be done to promote democracy in the world is first, to bring moral clarity back to world affairs and second, to link international policies to the advance of democracy around the globe.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Globe, Affair

• The three main sources of scepticism are first, that not every people desires freedom; second, that democracy in certain parts of the world would be dangerous; and third, that there is little the world’s democracies can do to advance freedom outside their countries.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Outside, Democracies

• The only peace that can be made with a dictator is once that must be based on deterrence. For today, the dictator may be your friend, but tomorrow he will need you as an enemy.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Enemy

  Tags in Dictator

• The message of the free world to any potential Palestinian leadership should be a simple one: Embrace democratic reform and we will embrace you.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Technology

  Tags in Potential, Simple

• The central premise behind Oslo was that if Arafat were given enough legitimacy, territory, weapons and money, he would use his power to fight terror and make peace with Israel.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Legitimacy, Fight

• People may believe that there can be a society where dissent is not permitted, but which is nonetheless not a fear society because everyone agrees with one another and therefore no one wants to dissent.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Dissent

  Tags in Permitted

• Only weeks after Oslo began, when nearly all the world and most of Israel was drunk with the idea of peace, I argued that a Palestinian society not constrained by democratic norms would be a fear society that would pose a grave threat to Israel.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Pose, Argued

• On the other hand, if the free world is concerned with how a new Palestinian leader governs, then the peace process will have a real chance to succeed.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Leader, Governs

• Of course, there can be serious injustices within free societies.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Societies, Injustice

• Non-democratic regimes always need to mobilize their people against external enemies in order to maintain internal stability.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Mobilize, Enemies

• My optimism is not based primarily on the successful march of democracy in recent times but rather is based on the experience of having lived in a fear society and studied the mechanics of tyranny that sustain such a society.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Optimism, Tyranny

• Just as the 99% of Soviet citizens who supported the Soviet regime in 1985 was no indication of what the people inside the USSR really thought, the army of true believers that we think we see in the Arab world is an illusion.

  Natan Sharansky

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Regime, Inside

• Japan is not a Western democracy. The Japanese have kept their traditions, culture and heritage, but they have joined the community of free nations.

  Natan Sharansky

  Tags in Traditions, Heritage

Natan Sharansky (33)

Birth:	20th January, 1948
Nationality:	Russian
Profession:	Activist, Author, Politician

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Today's Anniversary - 8th April

Births

• 1961 - Richard Hatch
• 1732 - David Rittenhouse
• 1937 - Seymour Hersh
• 1912 - Sonja Henie
• 1934 - Vartan Gregorian

Deaths

• 1835 - Wilhelm von Humboldt
• 1950 - Vaslav Nijinsky
• 1586 - Martin Chemnitz
• 1997 - Laura Nyro
• 2007 - Sol LeWitt