Lech Wałęsa
From Wikiquote
Lech Wałęsa (born 29 September 1943) is a Polish political activist and politician, a leader of the Solidarity trade union and political movement, who became the first democratically elected President of Poland (1990 - 1995) after the fall of the People's Republic of Poland. He is well known for his unintendedly humorous quotes.
- If there were fish in the lake, fishing would make no sense.
- Gdyby w jeziorze były ryby, wędkowanie nie miałoby sensu.
- I have made a 360 degree turn.
- Dokonałem zwrotu o 360 stopni.
- I'm in favor, and even against.
- Jestem za, a nawet przeciw.
- I wants not, but I has to.
- Nie chcem, ale muszem.
- Refers to Wałęsa perceiving his participation in the Polish political scene after his presidency as an obligation. He deliberately pronounced the phrase incorrectly.
- I was arrested many times. The first time, in December 1970, I signed 3 or 4 documents. Most probably I'd sign anything then, except consent for the betrayal of God and Fatherland, to get out and be able to fight. I have never been broken and I have never betrayed the ideals or my comrades.
- Aresztowano mnie wiele razy. Za pierwszym razem, w grudniu 1970 roku, podpisałem 3 albo 4 dokumenty. Podpisałbym prawdopodobnie wtedy wszystko, oprócz zgody na zdradę Boga i Ojczyzny, by wyjść i móc walczyć. Nigdy mnie nie złamano i nigdy nie zdradziłem ideałów ani kolegów.
- A note to the Polish Press Agency issued on 4th June 1992 after the publication of a list of Communist collaborators compiled by Antoni Macierewicz.[1]
- Pros of the European Union have their pros and cons.
- Plusy Unii Europejskiej mają swoje plusy i minusy.
- To you, sir, I can at most give a leg to shake.
- Panu to ja mogę co najwyżej nogę podać. To Aleksander Kwaśniewski during the 1995 election debate, after he refused to shake his hand; in the end, however, they did shake hands.
- There are positive pluses and negative pluses.
- Są plusy dodatnie i plusy ujemne.
- There should be a left leg and a right leg. And I'll be in between.
- Powinna być lewa noga i prawa noga. A ja będę pośrodku. On the role of the president in the Polish parliament.
- What president we earned, we have.
- Takiego mamy prezydenta, na jakiego sobie zasłużyliśmy.
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[edit] On communist system
- We've had enough generals. What Poland needs now are the American generals: General Motors, General Electric, and General Dynamics.
- The first sentence is an allusion to the Communist military ruler Wojciech Jaruzelski.
- Without a single shot we've managed to liberate the world of communism ... but now there is a need for global solidarity.
- The Polish Communists are just like radishes. They are only red on the outside.
- From an interview with Charles McDowell.
[edit] On allegations of cooperation with the Communist regime
- How dare you attack me? Attacking me, thinking bad about me is a crime!
- Jak Pan w ogóle śmie mnie atakować? Atakowanie mnie, myślenie źle o mnie jest zbrodnią!
- In response to the documents suggesting that Wałęsa was a secret Communist cooperator code-named "Bolek".
- One could say I was goofy somewhere, and maybe even outed someone, but not that I was an agent. Not that I wanted to betray anybody. (...) I swear, and damn me if I lie.
- Można powiedzieć, że byłem gdzieś niezręczny, może nawet kogoś wsypałem, ale nie to, że byłem agentem. Nie to, że chciałem kogoś zdradzić (...) Przysięgam i niech mnie szlag trafi, jeśli kłamię.[2]
[edit] References
- ↑ Przerwana premiera, an interview by Jerzy Kłosiński and Jan Strękowski with Jan Olszewski, Warsaw 1992
- ↑ From the IV Copernican Debate at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, after Gazeta.pl and TVN24
