Ivan Langer, Vice-chairman of the ODS and the Czech Chamber of Deputies

What did you want to be when you were a kid?
A pilot, which later came at least partially true, when I was able to fly in a jet fighter.

In which country would you like to live?
Although I enjoy discovering new cities and I started traveling as soon as it became possible (I even worked as a tour guide as a student), I’m quite a patriot, and I wouldn’t trade our country for any other.

What is the meaning of your life?
The striving to take part in the forming of our surroundings, which is also why I went into politics. And even if it sounds trite, my family.

What is your favorite character in fiction ?
St. Exupery’s Little Prince.

What is your favorite daytime activity?
I spend my time on creative activities – whether in parliament, or various civic initiatives, or at home. Anyone who doesn’t believe that playing with a child is a creative activity has never done it.

Where will you never go back to?
I never want to return to the previous regime. I try to do everything in my power to prevent that.

What was the last thing stolen from you?
My privacy.

What gift would you like to receive?
Because we’re expecting a new member of our family, I hope everything goes without problems, so the Langer clan can be expanded by one more healthy descendant.

What is never missing from your fridge?
Good wine.

Your favorite saying?
I’ve been able to fall into disfavor with bad people, which proves that I’m okay. (L. A. Seneca)

What do you like most about men, and what do you despise?
Their hard working nature, reliability, wittiness, and the spirit of sport. Conversely, I can’t stand toadyism, overeagerness, or laziness.

What do you like most about women, and what do you despise?
Practicality, natural intelligence and charm. But I don’t like affectedness, hysteria, and insincerity.

Have you been lucky in life?
Every man is the architect of his own fortune, and what I have contrived is what I have.

If you were organizing a dinner to which you could invite five people from any place and any era, whom would you invite?
Dali, Ginsberg, Leonardo da Vinci, and Bušek z Velhartic (so it wouldn’t be boring).

Do you have to be in love to make love, or can you make love even without love?
Anyone can make love without love, but it’s like riding a stationary bike compared to cycling through a shady valley where water lilies bloom and birds sing.

Do you think it’s better always to know the truth or not to know anything?
No matter how painful the truth, it brings certainty, and you won’t know peace until you find it.

How do you get up in the morning?
I usually sit up on the bed, turn a bit, put my feet on the floor, and stand up.

Whom do people confuse you with?
No one, any more…and before that, no one either.

Would you like to travel in space?
Yes, it would certainly be good for everyone to get a little distance from everything, to get the proper perspective.

What would be the first thing you would warn an extraterrestrial about?
To watch out for doctors who would want to give him a shot to make him feel better.

How would you like to die?
Reconciled, at peace in my soul, at best at a ripe old age.

Would you like a role in an action film?
Yes, as a villain, so I could finally play the part that some people assigned me long ago.

What would you like your gravestone to say?
Nothing special, just Ivan Langer, 1967-2144 would suffice.


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