Therefore it does not help to sneer at the imperfection of today's reality or to preach absolutes as a daily agenda.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
Added by Lucian Velea
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Trust cannot be commanded; and yet it is also correct that the only one who earns trust is the one who is prepared to grant trust.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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Not less, but more democracy - that is the demand, that is the great goal that we have to prescribe for ourselves, and especially for our youth.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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We have to recognize that the freedom of the individual has to be protected not only from the power of the state, but even more so from economic and societal power.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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I appeal to the responsibility of the blocs and the major powers, not to seek security in the arms race, but rather in a meeting for joint disarmament and arms limitations.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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The secret of big and revolutionary actions also consists in discovering the tiny step that is simultaneously a strategic step, insofar as it entails additional steps in the direction of a better reality.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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War is not the quintessential emergency in which man has to prove himself, as my generation learned at its school desks in the days of the Kaiser; rather, peace is the emergency in which we all have to prove ourselves.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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Ladies and gentlemen, on the occasion of my election I received many letters from people representing all segments of the population and all professions, especially from the younger generation, linking my inauguration with great - far too great - expectations.

quote by Gustav Heinemann
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