F. W. de Klerk, Nobel Peace Prize speech (10 December 1993)
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It is very significant that there has never been a war between genuine and universal democracies. There have been countless wars between totalitarian and authoritarian states. There have been wars between democracies and dictatorships - most often in defense of democratic values ​​or in response to aggression.

— F. W. de Klerk on Democracy

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It is very significant that there has never been a war between genuine and universal democracies. There have been countless wars between totalitarian and authoritarian states. There have been wars between democracies and dictatorships - most often in defense of democratic values ​​or in response to aggression." in the context of "F. W. de Klerk, Nobel Peace Prize speech (10 December 1993)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Democracy" (D) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
F. W. de Klerk

About F. W. de Klerk

Frederik Willem de Klerk (18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party from 1989 to 1997.