Talk:Lech Wałęsa

The cleanup needed on this page is one where the quotes are arranged chronologically, or in sections devoted to works arranged chronologically. Editor created "subject" headings within person articles have long been rejected here as too subjective in character, and prone to all sorts of problems and abuses. Sometimes genre headings have been accepted, but not generally encouraged or mandated (ie: Lyrics quotes by song writers have often been separated out from general quotes, though this is not mandated.) ~ Kalki (talk &middot; contributions) 13:44, 25 November 2010 (UTC)


 * First, the unsourced stuff should be separated from the properly sourced and dated quotes. --Matthead 14:18, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
 * That, of course, is required in order to arrange them chronologically; but that task is not made easier by separating the mix of them into subject headings. I don't plan to work on this page myself any time soon, but I might check in on it within the next week or so. ~ Kalki (talk &middot; contributions) 14:29, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Unsourced
Wikiquote no longer allows unsourced quotations, and they are in process of being removed from our pages (see Wikiquote:Limits on quotations); but if you can provide a reliable and precise source for any quote on this list please move it to.


 * 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.


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


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


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


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


 * Our national history has so often filled us with bitterness and the feeling of helplessness.


 * I got politics and economics moving and then others took over.


 * 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?


 * The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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".


 * Pros of the European Union have their pros and cons.
 * Plusy Unii Europejskiej mają swoje plusy i minusy.

[anon]

I have provided sources for some of them in the mainspace.

I can also confirm that most of the rest from the list above are correct, e.g.

->
 * 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.

https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/sensacje-w-kampanii-6105928939361409g/9 Najgoręcej zrobiło się jednak już po zakończeniu rozmowy, kiedy Aleksander Kwaśniewski chciał pożegnać się z rywalem. - Panu to ja mogę nogę podać - zareagował Wałęsa. Zezen (talk) 08:21, 28 January 2021 (UTC)