Why did Gorbachev claim to be inspired by Dubcek?

[Cheung Mo]

From what I understand, Dubcek's reforms amounted to a modest increase in civil liberties and decentralising control of the means of production without changing its state ownership. Gorbachev, meanwhile, destroyed an entire political and economic order.

[Face the music]

Dubcek's time in government didn't last long and after that there was a process of 'normalisation', you never know where it would have led, had the Russian's not gone over with their tanks and put in their puppet government.