Václav Havel, the only Czech political leader to have captivated millions abroad with his personal and professional struggle for civil society, turned 70 Oct. 5. The absurdist playwright and former dissident, who was jailed by the communist regime before becoming the first democratically elected post revolution president in 1989, has been called the nation's conscience.

Before retiring from politics in 2003, Havel opened Prague Castle to the public, oversaw the split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, and guided his nation to full NATO membership in 1999.

He also held to account then-Prime Minister Václav Klaus, one of the chief architects of the division of Czechoslovakia, calling his attitudes during economic transformation technocratic and urging stronger moral and legal principles.

The mind that created 18 dramas, including The Garden Party (1963), The Beggar's Opera (1972), Audience (1975) and Largo desolato (1984), along with dozens of reviews, commentaries, studies and essays, is still crafting wry and prescient observations on society.

Gathered here are several excerpts from recent interviews.

Sept. 1: Statement to Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD)

On the new government:

"I think the new government should be without any controversial politicians. It should only fill a gap — I won't even say a minority or caretaker government — just a gap-filling one without political leaders."

On the possibility of a U.S. missile defense base in the Czech Republic:

"We have worked hard for 16 years for the country to be a part of the western Euroatlantic society, and now it seems as if there's an inconspicuous effort to question this. All of a sudden, there is this campaign against some kind of a base without anybody knowing how the whole thing was meant, there are cuts in the defense budget. ... I consider this dangerous."

Sept. 30: Interview with MfD

On democratic progress:

"I really wish for people to be good to one another, and I strongly dislike controversies, conflicts, anger or hatred. Back in z1989 I didn't live on false illusions, but I did, nevertheless, really believe that things would be better than they are today."

On the challenges:

"It's a long, complicated journey that takes more generations. It's not simple; it's the same all over the world."

On political progress:

"Take the political theater we are currently witnessing. It's distancing people from politics and adds to a certain feeling of hopelessness. People will go and say, 'Why should I care about anything? I'll just worry about myself.' But, of course, I also see daily how many interesting things there are going on — initiatives, NGOs, people collecting for a good deed, looking after nature. Thus, I wouldn't say the situation is all that hopeless. Yet, at the same time, I get the feeling that everything really is worse than we thought it would be after the revolution."

On development:

"Any expatriate coming to the Czech Republic once a year will tell you that the country's improving. The atmosphere is that of other places in Western Europe. Our living standard is higher; that's beyond a doubt, even if people complain and will continue to do so. Take the dozens of new supermarkets. I don't like them, but that's another story. But people go there and shop by the hundreds. It is taken for granted, which it could never be in a country of declining living standards. Still, we should not allow the visible facade of life to deceive us. There is need to monitor the deeper movements in society and economics."

On diversity:

"Modern civilization's major problem is that it is mainly held together by the things that make people look alike. Variety of choices is often but a game, a part of absolute unification."

On the absurd:

"From my own, very personal, point of view, I'd say the most absurd thing is that I've been for many years the president of our country. Even a president of one state that ceased to exist and of one new state. Just like that. But why me? It makes me wonder."

Oct. 1: Interview with Czech TV

On early elections to the Chamber of Deputies:

They are inevitable because of the stalemate in the the lower house, but the caretaker government in the meantime should be "a less political government than the current minority Cabinet of the Civic Democratic Party [ODS], headed by Mirek Topolánek."

It should also be "politically more neutral" and "less conspicuous" under in order to win confidence in the Chamber of Deputies.

On whether Jiří Paroubek should get another chance to form a government:

"It should be someone with the greatest chance of gaining the confidence."

On reform needed to the election process:

The Czech Republic should have a new constitution that would be "brief, concise and comprehensive," and it should be passed within six years. The existing Constitution contains too many addenda, and it has been "cocooned" by added laws and amendments. "If someone is not an expert, it is difficult to grasp."

On changing the number of seats in the chamber to prevent a future deadlock:

"The more such addenda, the more tangled the entire system."

On the European Union's debate over expanding to include Turkey:

"Turkey has one leg in Europe, and Europe has relied on it for decades. All of a sudden, we are making a fuss. I dislike this."

On the risk of overexpansion:

"If we expand without any bounds, the EU may become another, redundant United Nations."

On the general election and the need for constitutional improvements:

"I think the entire political summer was not very good, as there is a growing gap between politics and society; it's all becoming a bit of a farce. People are like sports fans, thrilled to see who gets beaten more, who digs up dirt, who's more capable of insulting his opponent. Any fundamental topics are becoming lost."

On the current political fashion for phrases like "I can imagine," and "to find billions of Kč":

"That's as if these billions were some sack of spilled nails that we are now trying to find."

Oct. 4: Statements to the Czech News Agency

On receiving Ukraine's the Order of Knight Yaroslav Mudryi:

"I am naturally honored; I respect this, and, like in other cases, I perceive it as a commitment for the future. I wish for [Ukraine's] democratic institutions to become stronger, that the economic reforms continue, that there is peace in Ukraine and that it is soon able to become a member of the organizations that it wants to join."

On the perception of today's Czech political leaders:

"I wish that our public had more reasons to respect its politicians and put trust in them than at the moment, when they are performing a special show on television."

On life as a dissident before 1989:

"I remember my last talk with Jan Patočka [the renowned Czech philosopher]; it was in the Ruzyně prison. He was then of my age, and he said that man's life is actually very long."

On his roles as a poet, dramatist, writer and politician:

"All of them were interesting, but the era of my eight-year work with the Divadlo Na zabradlí theater was maybe the most pleasant."

On turning 70: