Success Quote by Harri Holkeri

In a political culture that can turn process into performance, Harri Holkeri’s line is a quiet rebuke: talk is not virtue by itself. Calling discussion “just a tool” deliberately demotes one of democracy’s sacred rituals. The word “just” does real work here. It punctures the self-congratulation that often surrounds deliberation, especially in institutions where “ongoing dialogue” can become a dignified synonym for delay.

Holkeri’s second sentence tightens the screw. “You have to aim” frames politics less as an endless seminar and more as coordinated action under pressure. The subtext is managerial and moral at once: leaders are accountable for outcomes, not atmospheres. In parliamentary systems like Finland’s, where coalition-building and committee work can make consensus both necessary and slow, the temptation is to treat negotiation as the endpoint. Holkeri insists it’s a means.

The rhetoric is blunt, almost mechanical: tool, aim, goal, decision. No poetry, no ideology, just an operational chain. That spareness signals a politician who wants to sound like a steward of the state rather than a performer of conviction. It also smuggles in a warning about power: decisions always advantage someone, and endless discussion can serve as cover for avoiding the costs of choosing. Holkeri’s intent isn’t anti-democratic; it’s anti-theater. He’s defending deliberation by refusing to romanticize it, arguing that legitimacy comes not from talking forever, but from deciding openly - and living with it.