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"People in the East had hopes for a new and authentic life, an earthly paradise behind the Wall. For them Western freedom and prosperity was not a goal to emulate but also invincible proof that life was worth living, that it is not devoid of value and meaning, that oppression, humiliating compromises, and an existence without dignity were only a transitory episode in their lives. The West shone in the distance, the light of hope in a world of deceit and despair."

Hankiss, Elemer. 1994. European Paradigms: East and West, 1945-1994.