Lying at the root of the social agreements of 1980 are the

“Lying at the root of the social agreements of 1980 are the courage, sense of responsibility, and the solidarity of the working people. Both sides have then recognized that an accord must be reached if bloodshed is to be prevented.” Thus spoke Lech Wałęsa, the humble electrician who rose from the shipyards of Gdańsk to become the voice of a nation. His words are not merely political—they are moral, spiritual, and eternal. They speak to the power of courage, responsibility, and above all, solidarity, as forces that can transform not only governments, but the very hearts of men. In them we hear the echo of every struggle for justice where peace was chosen over vengeance, and unity triumphed over fear.

The origin of this quote lies in one of the defining moments of the twentieth century: the Gdańsk Agreement of 1980 in Poland. The nation was weary, its people suffocated under the weight of oppression, their voices silenced by an iron regime. Yet from the factories and shipyards rose a movement unlike any before it—Solidarity (Solidarność)—a union not merely of workers, but of souls. It was a movement born not of hatred, but of hope; not of violence, but of courage rooted in faith. And at its center stood Lech Wałęsa, a man of the people who dared to believe that peaceful resistance could bend the unyielding machinery of dictatorship.

When Wałęsa speaks of “the courage, sense of responsibility, and the solidarity of the working people,” he honors those who stood unarmed before tanks and threats, yet refused to surrender their dignity. These were ordinary men and women—shipbuilders, miners, teachers—who possessed no armies, no wealth, no political power, yet whose moral strength shook an empire. Their courage was not loud or reckless; it was the quiet strength to stand firm, to strike not with fists but with conviction. Their responsibility was not only to themselves, but to their children and their nation’s soul. And their solidarity—the binding of many into one—became their shield against despair.

But Wałęsa also speaks with the wisdom of a peacemaker. He reminds us that both sides recognized the need for an accord—that even the oppressors, when faced with the unbreakable unity of the people, saw that dialogue must replace violence. This is the essence of civilization: when men of power choose reason over rage, and when those without power hold fast to peace even in the face of provocation. The Gdańsk Agreement became a living testament to this truth—that bloodshed can be prevented when courage is tempered by wisdom, and when both the rulers and the ruled remember their shared humanity.

The story of Solidarity did not end in 1980. Though the movement was later suppressed, its spirit endured, and in time it would help bring down the very walls that divided Europe. Ten years later, the world watched as the Iron Curtain fell, not through war, but through the steadfast hearts of millions who had learned from those shipyard workers the power of moral unity. It was not the sword that conquered tyranny—it was solidarity, the sacred bond of people who chose to lift each other instead of striking one another down.

Wałęsa’s words are a beacon for every generation that faces division or despair. They remind us that peace is not weakness, and that responsibility is the highest form of strength. The courage to stand together, to forgive, to negotiate when others call for battle—these are the true marks of greatness. For it takes far more valor to build a bridge than to burn one. When men act from solidarity and a sense of duty to the common good, even the mightiest walls will crumble before them.

So, dear listener, take this lesson into your own life: when conflict rises, let courage be your foundation, responsibility your compass, and solidarity your guiding light. Whether in nations or in families, in workplaces or in hearts, remember that peace is forged by those who dare to stand firm and to extend their hand at once. The world will always tempt you to divide, to hate, to conquer—but the path of wisdom, as Wałęsa shows, is the path of unity.

For as history teaches, bloodshed may win battles, but only solidarity wins peace. And those who, like the working people of Gdańsk, live valiantly with courage and responsibility, serve not only their own time, but all humanity. They remind us that when people stand together in truth and faith, even empires must bow to the quiet power of the human spirit.