As a dissident leader, Havel promoted the slogan, "May truth and love triumph over lies and hatred." During his years in office he stressed the importance of "civil society," or citizens' organizations free of government control, as the underpinning for democracy.

"None of us—as an individual—can save the world as a whole, but . . . each of us must behave as though it were in his power to do so," Havel wrote in his 1997 book, "The Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice."

As president, Havel sought to guide his country away from its Communist past while avoiding witch hunts against former rulers.

"The transformation of the totalitarian system into a democratic one is not only a matter of several parties replacing one ruling party and the introduction of some democratic mechanisms," Havel said in a 1994 interview with The Times. "It is also a matter of a great transformation of thinking because people must learn again to be citizens, to rediscover the civic responsibility which the totalitarian regime did not demand from them because it required mere obedience."