Ukraine refused to be steamrolled. While the war is not over by a long shot and while the outcome remains uncertain, this brave democracy on the eastern edge of Europe (with massive assistance from the U.S. and other nations) is giving everyone a lesson on fighting for what you believe in.

Ukraine has recovered cities and territory from Russia, unearthing massacred bodies and drawing back the curtain on devastation of civilian homes and institutions. Who can forget the deadly attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol, a devastated area which remains under Russian control

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the stalwart president of Ukraine, can be credited with stiffening his nation’s strong backbone against seemingly overwhelming odds. He shows no fear, and his words have made others brave. He is the premier wordsmith of democracy for this generation, whose speeches and writings will ring through history as those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson did in earlier struggles.

We devote the rest of this space to quotations from President Zelenskyy, a superstar of the democratic world of 2022:

“I would never want Ukraine to be a piece on the map, on the chessboard of big global players, so that someone could toss us around, use us as cover, as part of some bargain.”

“The president can’t change the country on his own. But what can he do? He can give an example.”

“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

“It’s a victory when the weapons fall silent, and people speak up.”

“To all the countries of the former Soviet Union: look at us, everything is possible. We are fighting just for our land and for our freedom—nobody is going to enter and intervene with our freedom, believe you me.”

“Our people are motivated, and we are fighting for freedoms and our lives. We are fighting for our survival. But if we stay silent today, we’ll be gone tomorrow!”

Finally, in a social media post addressed to Russia last week, he asked: “Do you still think that we are ‘one nation?’ Do you still think that you can scare us, break us, make us make concessions?”

“You really did not understand anything? Don’t understand who we are? What are we for? What are we talking about?”

“Read my lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you,” Zelenskyy wrote.

“Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as scary and deadly for us as your ‘friendship and brotherhood,’” he added. “But history will put everything in its place. And we will be with gas, light, water and food … and WITHOUT you!”

May it be so.