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I Think I Should Be Active Politically. Because I Look Upon Myself As A Politician. That's Not A Dirty Work You Know. Some People Think That There Are Something Wrong With Politicians. Of Course, Something Wrong With Some Politicians.

-Aung San Suu Kyi

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I Think I Should

Aung San Suu Kyi

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I Think I Should Be Active Politically. Because I Look Upon Myself As A Politician. That's Not A Dirty Work You Know. Some People Think That There Are Something Wrong With Politicians. Of Course, Something Wrong With Some Politicians.

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Even If You Feel Fear, You Still Have To Go Ahead And Do What You Believe In.

The Root Of A Nation's Misfortunes Has To Be Sought In The Moral Failings Of The Government.

I Don't Believe In Professional Dissidents. I Think It's Just A Phase, Like Adolescence.

If Ideas And Beliefs Are To Be Denied Validity Outside The Geographical And Cultural Bounds Of Their Origin, Buddhism Would Be Confined To North India, Christianity To A Narrow Tract In The Middle East And Islam To Arabia.

Burma Is Not Yet A Full-fledged Democracy. We Have Started Working On The Road To Full Democracy. We Have A Lot Of Things To Do In Order To Build A Democratic Structure And To Be Become A Full-fledged Democracy.

There Are Those Who Argue That The Concept Of Human Rights Is Not Applicable To All Cultures. We In The National League For Democracy Believe That Human Rights Are Of Universal Relevance. But Even Those Who Do Not Believe In Human Rights Must Certainly Agree That The Rule Of Law Is Most Important. Without The Rule Of Law There Can Be No Peace.

Among The Basic Freedoms To Which Men Aspire That Their Lives Might Be Full And Uncramped, Freedom From Fear Stands Out As Both A Means And An End. A People Who Would Build A Nation In Which Strong, Democratic Institutions Are Firmly Established As A Guarantee Against State-induced Power Must First Learn To Liberate Their Own Minds From Apathy And Fear.

Human Beings Want To Be Free And However Long They May Agree To Stay Locked Up, To Stay Oppressed, There Will Come A Time When They Say 'that's It.' Suddenly They Find Themselves Doing Something That They Never Would Have Thought They Would Be Doing, Simply Because Of The Human Instinct That Makes Them Turn Their Face Towards Freedom.

Natural Instinct

It Is Undeniably Easier To Ignore The Hardships Of Those Who Are Too Weak To Demand Their Rights Than To Respond Sensitively To Their Needs. To Care Is To Accept Responsibility, To Dare To Act In Accordance With The Dictum That The Ruler Is The Strength Of The Helpless.

Despotic Governments Do Not Recognize The Precious Human Component Of The State, Seeing Its Citizens Only As A Faceless, Mindless -- And Helpless -- Mass To Be Manipulated At Will. It Is As Though People Were Incidental To A Nation Rather Than Its Very Life-blood.

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The Important Thing Is Fear Should Not Control Your Actions. It Should Not Dictate What You Do.

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There Have Been Many Claims That [u.s.] Sanctions Have Hurt Burma Economically, But I Did Not Agree With That Point Of View. If You Look At Reports By The Imf, For Example, They Make Quite Clear That The Economic Impact On Burma Has Not Been That Great. But I Think The Political Impact Has Been Very Great And That Has Helped Us In Our Struggle For Democracy.

Lasting Solutions Are Always Difficult To Come To. But They Will Have To Persevere. I've Been Repeating Ad Nauseam That We In Burma We Are Weak With Regard To The Culture Of Negotiated Compromises, That We Have To Develop The Ability To Achieve Such Compromises.

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I've Always Thought That The Best Solution For Those Who Feel Helpless Is For Them To Help Others.

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Burmese Authors And Artists Can Play The Role That Artists Everywhere Play. They Help To Mold The Outlook Of A Society - Not The Whole Outlook And They Are Not The Only Ones To Mold The Outlook Of Society, But They Have An Important Role To Play There. And I Think If They Take Up This Role Seriously And Link It To The Kind Of Changes Were Wish To Bring About In Our Country They Could Be A Tremendous Help.

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In General People Feel More Relaxed About Participating In Politics. They Aren't Frightened As They Used To Be.

To Have Compromise You Must First Have Dialog. That Is The True Path Of Democracy.

I Think I Should Be Active Politically. Because I Look Upon Myself As A Politician. That's Not A Dirty Work You Know. Some People Think That There Are Something Wrong With Politicians. Of Course, Something Wrong With Some Politicians.

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Underprivileged

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I Look Upon Myself As A Politician. That Isn't A Dirty Word.

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It Is Often In The Name Of Cultural Integrity As Well As Social Stability And National Security That Democratic Reforms Based On Human Rights Are Resisted By Authoritarian Governments.

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I Don't Seem To Have Time To Breathe. Everything's Happening So Quickly, And So Much Is Happening All The Time.

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I'm Feeling A Little Delicate.

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Investment That Only Goes To Enrich An Already Wealthy Elite Bent On Monopolizing Both Economic And Political Power Cannot Contribute Toward Égalité And Justice - The Foundation Stones For A Sound Democracy.

We Must All Work Together If We Are All To Live Together In Unity And Harmony.

Working Together

With The Right Kind Of Institutions, Starting With The Rule Of Law, Burma Could Progress Very Quickly.

The Main Aim Of The [political] Dialogue Should Be To Resolve The Problems Of The Nation, Not To Find Who Is The Winner And Who Is The Loser. That's Not What It's All About. It's To Try And Find An Answer That Is Acceptable To All Parties Concerned, Which Would Of Course Require Some Give And Take.

We Must Contemplate What The Meaning Of Being "educated" Is. Some People Think A Person With Plenty Of Degrees Is An Educated One. But I Believe A Person Who Can Judge A Situation Correctly And Make Timely Decisions Is More Important.

I Don't Like To Be Called A Symbol. And I Don't Like To Be Called An Icon. I Will Just Say That I Have To Work Very, Very Hard. So I'd Rather Be Known As A Hard Worker. I Don't Think Symbols Do Much, Nor Icons.

Justice Is A Dream. But It Is A Dream That We Are Determined To Realize.

I Think By Now I Have Made It Fairly Clear That I Am Not Very Happy With The Word Hope. I Don't Believe In People Just Hoping. We Work For What We Want. I Always Say That One Has No Right To Hope Without Endeavor, So We Work To Try And Bring About The Situation That Is Necessary For The Country, And We Are Confident That We Will Get To The Negotiation Table At One Time Or Another. This Is The Way All Such Situations Pan Out Even With The Most Truculent Dictator.

The Peace Of Our World Is Indivisible. As Long As Negative Forces Are Getting The Better Of Positive Forces Anywhere, We Are All At Risk.

Please Use Your Freedom To Promote Ours.

Regimented Minds Cannot Grasp The Concept Of Confrontation As An Open Exchange Of Major Differences With A View To Settlement Through Genuine Dialogue.

The French Say That To Part Is To Die A Little. To Be Forgotten Too Is To Die A Little. It Is To Lose Some Of The Links That Anchor Us To The Rest Of Humanity.

If I Advocate Cautious Optimism It Is Not Because I Do Not Have Faith In The Future But Because I Do Not Want To Encourage Blind Faith.

I Don't Want Burma To Be A Basket Case Forever.

Part Of Our Struggle Is To Make The International Community Understand That We Are A Poor Country Not Because There Is An Insufficiency Of Resources And Investment, But Because We Are Deprived Of The Basic Institutions And Practices That Make For Good Government.

I Do Not Look Upon My Life As A Sacrifice At All.

More People, Especially Young People, Are Realising That If They Want Change, They've Got To Go About It Themselves – They Can't Depend On A Particular Person, Ie Me, To Do All The Work. They Are Less Easy To Fool Than They Used To Be, They Now Know What's Going On All Over The World.

Democracy Acknowledges The Right To Differ As Well As The Duty To Settle Differences Peacefully. Authoritarian Governments See Criticism Of Their Actions And Doctrines As A Challenge To Combat.

I've Always Tried To Explain Democracy Is Not Perfect. But It Gives You A Chance To Shape Your Own Destiny.

Leaders Of Political Parties Need To Keep In Contact With The People; That's What It's All About. If Violence Were To Erupt, I Am Fairly Confident That We Could Control Our People. Whether Or Not The Authorities Can Control Theirs Is Another Matter Altogether.

In Burma, Under The Present Constitution, The Army Can Always Take Over All Parts Of Government If They Think This Is Necessary. So Until The Army Comes Out Clearly And Consistently In Support Of The Democratic Process We Cannot Say That It's Irreversible. But I Don't Think We Need Fear A Reversal Too Much Either.

I'm Not The Only One Working For Democracy In Burma - There Are So Many People Who Have Worked For It Because They Believe That This Is The Only Way We Can Maintain The Dignity Of Our People.

I Think One Must Take Responsibility For One's Actions And One's Decisions. But One Should Never Take -- One Should Never Assume That Everything That Happens For The Good Is Achieved By One's Self Alone.

In A System Which Denies The Existence Of Basic Human Rights, Fear Tends To Be The Order Of The Day. The Only Real Prison Is Fear, And The Only Real Freedom Is Freedom From Fear. Never Let Fear Prevent You From Doing Right.

I Have Been Arrested Time And Time Again, And My Colleagues, Too. I Cannot Guarantee That I'll Not Be Arrested Again. But It's Not Something That Weighs On My Mind. I'll Do What I Can While I'm Free. If They Arrest Me Again, I'll Do What I Can While I'm Under Arrest.

Guarantees That

When I Was Under House Arrest, It Was The Bbc That Spoke To Me - I Listened.

There's A Certain Age When Your Height Stops Growing And You Cannot Change That. This Sort Of Body Growth Cannot Be Fixed. But There Are Many Things That Can Be Changed. You Might Have A Small Body Structure But There Are Opportunities To Make Yourself Very Fit And Healthy. So We'll Have To Work Hard In Many Aspects.

Burma Wants To Have Good Relations With Our Neighboring Countries, China And India. I Do Believe The United States Itself Wants To Live In Harmony With China And India. That's Why We Have To Lay Down Political Policies That Are Fair For Everyone.

We Cannot Be Caught In The Bond Of Suspicion. We Have To Carry Out What We Should Be Doing With A Firm Determination.

My Top Priority Is For People To Understand That They Have The Power To Change Things Themselves.

I Do Not Like To Encourage Personalized Politics, So We Would Not Like It To Be Thought That Just Because Certain Political Personalities Were Attacked, This Means The Situation Is Very Grave. The True Gravity Of The Situation Comes From The Fact That Ordinary Members Of The Nld Are Repressed All The Time. We Don't Want A Completely Paralyzed Political Organization, While A Select Few Leaders Are Protected By International Attention.

As We Strive To Teach Others We Must Have The Humility To Acknowledge That We Too Still Have Much To Learn.

The Quintessential Revolution Is That Of Spirit. Without This, The Forces Which Produce The Inequalities Of The Old Order Will Continue To Operate.

I Was Speaking To A Writer The Other Day And He Gave Me A Valuable Piece Of Advice. He Said That You May Get To Where You Want To Go Quicker Through Violence, But The Healing Process Takes Longer. Whereas If You Don't Use Violence, There Is Not Much Healing Necessary, So You Win In The Long Run.

I've Always Said That The More Coordinated The Efforts Of The International Community Are, The Better It Will Be For Democracy In Burma.

Maybe It Is Something To Do With Age, But I Have Become Fonder Of Poetry Than Of Prose.

It Is Not Power That Corrupts But Fear.

People Ask Me About What Sacrifices I've Made. I Always Answer: I've Made No Sacrifices, I've Made Choices.

Sometimes, 24 Hours Can Bring A Total Revolutionary Change.

In Burma, We Have Only About Four Percent Of The People In Our Country Who Are (college) Graduates. So Can We Not Value The Majority? No, We Must. If We Just Value The Graduates, Then Does That Mean Our People Are Not Valuable? I Don't Believe That. What Is Important Is We Need Right People In Right Positions.

While It Is Undeniable That Many Have Been Driven To Immorality And Crime By The Need To Survive, It Is Equally Evident That The Possession Of A Significant Surplus Of Material Goods Has Never Been A Guarantee Against Covetousness, Rapacity And The Infinite Variety Of Vice And Pain Which Spring From Such Passions. Indeed, It Could Be Argued That The Unrelenting Compulsion Of Those Who Already Have Much To Acquire Even More Has Generated Greater Injustice, Immorality And Wretchedness Than The Cumulative Effect Of The Struggles Of The Severely Underprivileged To Better Their Lot.

War Is Not The Only Arena Where Peace Is Done To Death.

When You Feel Helpless, Help Someone.

Because Of Rampant Inflation, Living Standards Have Been Dropping For The Great Majority Of The Population. The People Are Poorer Because Standards Of Health And Education Have Fallen. And Conditions In The Rural Areas Are Worse Off Than They Have Ever Been. So, You Cannot Equate The So-called Open-market Economy Adopted By The Slorc With Any Real Development That Benefits People.

The Education And Empowerment Of Women Throughout The World Cannot Fail To Result In A More Caring, Tolerant, Just And Peaceful Life For All.

Solidarity Is A Beautiful Word Because It Means That You Reach Out To Those Who Are Different From You And Who Have To Cope With Different Circumstances Because We Recognize That We All Share The Same Human Needs And Same Values. It Is The Values That Count Most Of All. The Value Of Freedom Of Thought, The Value Of Democratic Practices, The Value Of Respect For Your Fellow Human Beings.

If You Look At The Democratic Process As A Game Of Chess, There Have To Be Many, Many Moves Before You Get To Checkmate. And Simply Because You Do Not Make Any Checkmate In Three Moves Does Not Mean It's Stalemate. There's A Vast Difference Between No Checkmate And Stalemate. This Is What The Democratic Process Is Like.

We Will Surely Get To Our Destination If We Join Hands.

I Only Used A Cell Phone For The First Time After I Was Released. I Had Difficulty Coping With It Because It Seemed So Small And Insubstantial.

What We Are Lacking In Burma Is An Independence Effective Judiciary, And Unless We Have All Three Of The Democratic Institutions - Strong And Healthy, We Cannot Say That Our Democratic Processes (is Complete).

In Terms Of The History Of A Far Reaching Movement, 20 Years Is Not That Long.

Young People Drift Away From Society Because, In Many Cases, They Have No Hope Or Goals. So, Hope Will Have To Be Given To The Young.

I've Always Said There's No Hope Without Endeavor. Hope Has No Meaning Unless We Are Prepared To Work To Realize Our Hopes And Dreams But In Order To That We Do Need To Have Friends. We Need Those Who Believe In Us. Friends Are Those Who Believe In Us And Who Want To Help Us Whatever It Is That We Are Trying To Achieve.

You Should Never Let Your Fears Prevent You From Doing What You Know Is Right.

I've Always Said That The Most Important Thing Is Job Creation. Jobs Will Earn People Money And Build Self-confidence.

Self Confidence

Fear Is Not The Natural State Of Civilized People.

Basic Human Rights

We're Nowhere Near Democracy. I've Been Released, That's All.

To View The Opposition As Dangerous Is To Misunderstand The Basic Concepts Of Democracy. To Oppress The Opposition Is To Assault The Very Foundation Of Democracy.

I Was Heartened That People Everywhere Want Certain Basic Freedoms, Even If They Live In A Totally Different Cultural Environment.

Those Who Have To Face Persistent Political Persecution Become Highly Politicized. Our Lives Take On A Rhythm Different From Those Who, On Waking Up In The Morning, Do Not Need To Wonder Who Might Have Been Arrested During The Night And What Further Acts Of Blatant Injustice Might Be Committed Against Our People Later During The Day. Our Antennae Become Highly Sensitive To Vibrations Barely Noticed By Those Whose Everyday Existence Is Removed From Political Struggle.

It Cannot Be Doubted That In Most Countries Today Women, In Comparison To Men, Still Remain Underprivileged.

One Wants To Be Together With One's Family. That's What Families Are About.

As I Travel Through My Country, People Often Ask Me How It Feels To Have Been Imprisoned In My Home -first For Six Years, Then For 19 Months. How Could I Stand The Separation From Family And Friends? It Is Ironic, I Say, That In An Authoritarian State It Is Only The Prisoner Of Conscience Who Is Genuinely Free. Yes, We Have Given Up Our Right To A Normal Life. But We Have Stayed True To That Most Precious Part Of Our Humanity-our Conscience.

I've Never Thought Of Myself As Being Particularly Brave - I Used To Be Frightened Of The Dark When I Was Small. And I'm Not Very Good With Dead Rats And Things Like That. But I Face What Has To Be Faced And I Hope As Best As I'm Able.

You Have A Great Many Things To Do When You Are Under House Arrest. On The One Hand, It Is More Comfortable Than Sitting In Prison; On The Other Hand, You Have To Look After A Household, Which Is Strenuous Under Such Circumstances.

If You Want Democracy, You Have Got To Be Prepared To Accept The Responsibilities Of Democracy. The People Have To Take Part. They Have To Understand That They Have The Power To Move Things, And They Must Really Commit Themselves To Change If They Want It.

The Quintessential Revolution Is That Of The Spirit, Born Of An Intellectual Conviction Of The Need For Change In Those Mental Attitudes And Values Which Shape The Course Of A Nation's Development. A Revolution Which Aims Merely At Changing Official Policies And Institutions With A View To An Improvement In Material Conditions Has Little Chance Of Genuine Success. Without A Revolution Of The Spirit, The Forces Which Produced The Iniquities Of The Old Order Would Continue To Be Operative, Posing A Constant Threat To The Process Of Reform And Regeneration.

Once Serious Political Dialogue Has Begun, The International Community Can Assume That We Have Achieved Genuine Progress Along The Road To Real Democratisation.

I Think That Freedom Is Sometimes A State Of Mind. Sometimes, Mind You, But Not Always.

My Attitude To Peace Is Rather Based On The Burmese Definition Of Peace - It Really Means Removing All The Negative Factors That Destroy Peace In This World. So Peace Does Not Mean Just Putting An End To Violence Or To War, But To All Other Factors That Threaten Peace, Such As Discrimination, Such As Inequality, Poverty.

Religion Is About Increasing Peace And Harmony In The World. ... People Of All Different Religions Should Be Given The Opportunity To Pursue Good In Their Own Way.

My Attitude Is, Do As Much As I Can While I'm Free. And If I'm Arrested I'll Still Do As Much As I Can.

The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights Recognizes That 'if Man Is Not To Be Compelled To Have Recourse, As A Last Resort, To Rebellion Against Tyranny And Oppression', Human Rights Should Be Protected By The Rule Of Law. That Just Laws Which Uphold Human Rights Are The Necessary Foundation Of Peace And Security Would Be Denied Only By Closed Minds Which Interpret Peace As The Silence Of All Opposition And Security As The Assurance Of Their Own Power.

A Revolution Simply Means Great Change, Significant Change, And That's How I'm Defining It - Great Change For The Better, Brought About Through Non-violent Means.

Significant Change

In Burma, Our Main Goal In Amending The Constitution Is Not To Phase Out The Military From Politics. Our Main Point Is To Put The Constitution In Line With International Standards And Norms.

I Felt That It Was My Duty Not To Senselessly Waste My Time. And Since I Didn't Want To Waste My Time, I Tried To Accomplish As Much As Possible.

Wasting My Time

I Don't Think Of Myself As Unbreakable. Perhaps I'm Just Rather Flexible And Adaptable.

Human Beings The World Over Need Freedom And Security That They May Be Able To Realize Their Full Potential.

When We Think Of The State Of The Economy, We Are Not Thinking In Terms Of Money Flow. We Are Thinking In Terms Of The Effect On Everyday Lives Of People.

When You Decide To Follow A Certain Path, You Should Follow It To The End And Not Be Diverted From It For Personal Reasons.

It's Good To Know That The People Of Different Countries Are Really Concerned And Involved In The Movement To Help Burma. I Think In Some Ways It's Better To Have The People Of The World On Your Side Than The Governments Of The World, Even If Governments Can Be More Effective In Certain Directions.

One Should Mature Over 20 Years.

I Think It's Time For The Army To Understand That Power Should Be Enshrined In The People If We Are To Be A Genuine Democracy And Not In Any Particular Institution Or Organisation.

The Important Thing Is Burma Needs To End The Civil War And For This To Happen Both Sides Must Want To End The War.

After I Was Released, People Used To Keep Asking Me, 'what's It Like To Be Free? And It Was Very Difficult For Me To Answer. I'd Always Felt Free. As Far As My State Of Mind Was Concerned, I Didn't Feel Any Different...people Ask Me About What Sacrifices I've Made. I Always Answer: I've Made No Sacrifices, I've Made Choices.

Every Government Must Consider The Security Of The Country. That Is Just Part Of The Responsibilities Of Any Government. But True Security Can Only Come Out Of Unity Within A Country Where There Are So Many Ethnic Nationalities.

I'm Rather Inclined To Liking People.

People Must Have Freedom And At The Same Time They Must Have Security. They Must Not Be Using Freedom To Fight With Each Other. When They Have Security Of The Mind, Their Fears Will Subside, And Their Mistrust Of Others Will Also Decline. There Will Be No Need To Worry That Somebody Will Be Looking At You With Jealousy. They Won't Have To Worry That Someone Will Report Some Lies To Their Superiors And Get Them Into Trouble. This Fear Of Being Unjustly Punished Would Disappear And I Believe Confidence And Trust Will Mount And People Will Have More Love And Respect Towards One Another.

If You Want To Bring An End To Long-standing Conflict, You Have To Be Prepared To Compromise. If Either Or Both Sides Insist On Getting Everything That They Want - That Is To Say 100 Percent Of Their Demands To Be Met, Then There Can Never Be A Settlement.

I Think There's A Need For The Participation Of The Military For The Stability Of The Transformation Period Of Burma. If The Military And The People Do Unite Together For The Sake Of Our Country, We Can Reach The Development Of Our Country In A Very Short Time.

All Repressive Laws Must Be Revoked, And Laws Introduced To Protect The Rights Of The People.

There Should Be No Political Prisoners In A Democratic Country.

Democracy, Like Liberty, Justice And Other Social And Political Rights, Is Not "given", It Is Earned Through Courage, Resolution And Sacrifice.

The Search For Scapegoats Is Essentially An Abnegation Of Responsibility: It Indicates An Inability To Assess Honestly And Intelligently The True Nature Of The Problems Which Lie At The Root Of Social And Economic Difficulties And A Lack Of Resolve In Grappling With Them.

To Abolish Fear Correctly Is To Nurture Law And Order.

To Be Forgotten, Is To Die A Little.

We Do Need Great Change In Burma. We Are Trying To Build A New Society, A Society Where Basic Human Rights Are Respected, And Where Our People Enjoy All The Benefits Of Democratic Institutions.

India And Burma Have Been Close Friends Since The Days We Were Struggling For Independence. And I'm A Great Admirer Of Mahatma Gandhi And Jawaharlal Nehru, And All Those Leaders Of India's Independence Movement. I Would Like To Believe The Aspirations And Hopes We Shared In The Past Will Continue To Bind Us In The Future.

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Johann Kaspar Lavater

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