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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.

-Aung San Suu Kyi

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While It Is Undeniable

Aung San Suu Kyi

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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.

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

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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 Located Between China, India, And South East Asia. So It Is Quite Natural That A Country Wanting Diplomatic Relations With Our Country Would Pay Attention To Who Our Regional Neighbors Are. It Is Not At All Fair To Ask A Country To Build Relations With Burma But Not Take Into Account The Situation In China. There Is No Way To Think That Taking The Chinese Situation Into Consideration Shows A Disregard For Burma.

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 Wish People Wouldn't Think Of Me As A Saint - Unless They Agree With The Definition Of A Saint That A Saint's A Sinner Who Goes On Trying.

It Is His Capacity For Self-improvement And Self-redemption Which Most Distinguishes Man From The Mere Brute.

If You Can Make People Understand Why Freedom Is So Important Through The Arts, That Would Be A Big Help.

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

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Fear Is A Habit; I Am Not Afraid.

If The Restrictions On The Work Of My Party And On Me Personally Are Not Removed In The Very, Very Near Future - That Is In A Matter Of Days - I Think The United States Should Start Thinking Seriously Of Sanctions. This Is Really About As Bad As It Has Ever Been.

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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).

I Still Oppose "visit Myanmar Year," And I Would Ask Tourists To Stay Away. Burma Is Not Going To Run Away. They Should Come Back To Burma At A Time When It Is A Democratic Society Where People Are Secure - Where There Is Justice, Where There Is Rule Of Law. They'll Have A Much Better Time. And They Can Travel Around Burma With A Clear Conscience.

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

As You Look At Me And Listen To Me, Please Remember The Often Repeated Truth That One Prisoner Of Conscience Is One Too Many.

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One Should Mature Over 20 Years.

I've Always Been Strongly On The Side Of Non-violence. Also, I Think That If You Use The Wrong Means, The Ends Themselves Get Distorted.

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

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

For Me, 'revolution' Simply Means Radical Change.

To Be Forgotten, Is To Die A Little.

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.

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

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There Is No Hope Without Endeavor.

If You're Feeling Helpless, Help Someone.

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All Military Regimes Use Security As The Reason Why They Should Remain In Power. It's Nothing Original.

How Can You Call It A Sacrifice When You Choose To Do Something Because You Believe In It?

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

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If You Want To Bring An End To Long-standing Conflict, You Have To Be Prepared To Compromise.

Peace, Development, And Justice Are All Connected To Each Other. We Cannot Talk About Economic Development Without Talking About Peace. How Can We Expect Economic Development In A Battlefield?

When The Nobel Committee Chose To Honor Me, The Road I Had Chosen Of My Own Free Will Became A Less Lonely Path To Follow.

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.

All Right, Your Knees May Be Knocking But That Shouldn't Prevent You From Going Ahead And Doing What You Need To Do.

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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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Freedom And Democracy Are Dreams You Never Give Up.

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Perhaps Singapore Could Learn From Us A More Relaxed Way Of Life.

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

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.

I Think, If You Have Enough Inner Resources, Then You Can Live In Isolation For Long Periods Of Time And Not Feel Diminished By It.

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Responsible Government

The Judiciary Must Be Strengthened And Released From Political Interference.

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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.

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.

It Is Man's Vision Of A World Fit For Rational, Civilized Humanity Which Leads Him To Dare And To Suffer To Build Societies Free From Want And Fear. Concepts Such As Truth, Justice And Compassion Cannot Be Dismissed As Trite When These Are Often The Only Bulwarks Which Stand Against Ruthless Power.

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.

We Have To Choose Between Dialogue And Utter Devastation.

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.

When You Feel Helpless, Help Someone.

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

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

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

Foreign Investors Will Not Come And Do Things Without Any Returns For Themselves. And We Don't Expect Them To Come Work For Us Free. But The Local Population Should Benefit Rightfully. The Locals Should Benefit Just A Little More Than The Companies.

After All It Was My Father Who Founded The Burmese Army And I Do Have A Sense Of Warmth Towards The Burmese Army.

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.

We Must Make Democracy The Popular Creed...if We Should Fail To Do This, Our People Are Bound To Suffer... That Is What My Father Said. It Is The Reason Why I Am Participating In This Struggle.

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

Assuming The Chairmanship Of Asean Isn't Going To Do Anything About Improving The Lives Of People.

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

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.

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

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

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

One Prisoner Of Conscience Is One Too Many.

The Good Ruler Sublimates His Needs As An Individual To The Service Of The Nation.

Every Thought, Every Word, And Every Action That Adds To The Positive And The Wholesome Is A Contribution To Peace. Each And Every One Of Us Is Capable Of Making Such A Contribution.

Since We Live In This World, We Have To Do Our Best For This World.

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.

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

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.

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.

As Long As There Is No Law In Burma, Any Individual Here Can Be Arrested At Any Time.

The Nobel Peace Prize Opened Up A Door In My Heart.

Nobel Peace Prize

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

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

Solution To A Problem

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 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.

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

At The Moment I Would Like To Emphasize The Need For Vocational Training, For Non-formal Education In Burma To Help All Those Young People Who Have Suffered From A Bad Education. They Have To Be Trained To Earn Their Living. They Have To Have Enough Education Vocational Training To Be Able To Set Up Respectable Lives For Themselves.

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.

I Am Not Unaware Of The Saying That More Tears Have Been Shed Over Wishes Granted Than Wishes Denied.

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.

So, I Think That For The Authorities To Say Now That Calling For Sanctions Will Prevent Dialogue Is A Ploy To Stop Us From Supporting Sanctions. It Has To Be The Other Way Around: Dialogue First, Then We Stop Our Call For Sanctions, Because Sanctions Make People Understand That You Cannot Exercise Repression And At The Same Time Expect International Support.

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.

It Is Not Easy For A People Conditioned By Fear Under The Iron Rule Of The Principle That Might Is Right To Free Themselves From The Enervating Miasma Of Fear. Yet Even Under The Most Crushing State Machinery Courage Rises Up Again And Again, For Fear Is Not The Natural State Of Civilized Man.

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

People Need Security Of The Mind. Why Do They Want Democracy? Because It Can Give Them Freedom And Security In A Balanced Way.

Please Use Your Freedom To Promote Ours.

The [burmese] Government Appears To Be More Interested In Stamping Out Political Activity Than Drug Addiction. Very Few University Students On The Campus Could Get Away With Engaging In Political Activities, But They Seem To Be Able To Get Away With Taking Drugs. We Have Heard That It Is Very Easy To Obtain Drugs On The University Campuses.

University Students

The History Of The World Shows That Peoples And Societies Do Not Have To Pass Through A Fixed Series Of Stages In The Course Of Development.

I'm Feeling A Little Delicate.

The Best Way To Deal With Aids Is Through Education. So We Need A Really Widespread Aids Education Program. In Fact, What We Need In Burma Is Education Of All Kinds - Political, Economic, And Medical. Aids Education Would Be Just Part Of A Whole Program For Education, Which Is So Badly Needed In Our Country.

The Democracy Process Provides For Political And Social Change Without Violence.

I Think Sometimes If You Are Alone, You Are Freer Because Your Time Is Your Own.

One Person Alone Can't Do Anything As Important As Bringing Genuine Democracy To A Country.

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.

Unless There Is Free And Fair Competition, There Can't Be Healthy Economic Development. And What We Have In Burma Now Is Not An Open-market Economy That Allows Free And Fair Competition, But A Form Of Colonialism Makes A Few People Very, Very Wealthy. It's What You Would Crony Capitalism.

What I Have Experienced Is Nothing Compared To What Political Prisoners In Prisons Suffer.

European And American Companies Companies Do Create Jobs For Some People But What They're Mainly Going To Do Is Make An Already Wealthy Elite Wealthier, And Increase Its Greed And Strong Desire To Hang On To Power. So Immediately And In The Long Run, These Companies - Harm The Democratic Process A Great Deal.

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

Taking Sides Cannot Bring Peace And Balance.

Absolute Peace In Our World Is An Unattainable Goal. But It Is One Towards Which We Must Continue To Journey, Our Eyes Fixed On It As A Traveller In A Desert Fixes His Eyes On The One Guiding Star That Will Lead Him To Salvation.

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.

The Basis Of Democratic Freedom Is Freedom Of Speech.

Freedom Of Speech

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.

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.

It Is Incorrect To Say There Have Been No Reforms At All In Burma; There Have Of Course Been Reforms, But We Still Need To Do More For The People. To Become A Democratic Society We Have To Continually Be Reforming.

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

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

In Burma, We Need To Find Out What We Have To Do In Order To Keep The Democratization Process On Track. Economic Reforms Have To Be Taken One By One. You See It's Not Just Speed That's Important, It's Sequencing As Well. You've Got To Get The Speed Right; You Have To Get The Sequencing Right.

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.

Early Childhood Development Has Proved To Be Very Beneficial And Very Cost-effective In Societies Where This Is Been Tried. So Let's Not Confine Ourselves To Primary Education. Let's Think Of Early Childhood Development And Education As A Whole.

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.

It Would Be Difficult To Dispel Ignorance Unless There Is Freedom To Pursue The Truth Unfettered By Fear.

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.

War Is Not The Only Arena Where Peace Is Done To Death. Wherever Suffering Is Ignored, There Will Be The Seeds Of Conflict, For Suffering Degrades And Embitters And Enrages.

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.

I Worry That Even Those Who Want To Reform Are Not Quite Sure How To Go About It. There Is So Much To Be Done.

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.

A More Significant Phase Should Mean Serious Political Dialogue.

We Have Been Making Constant Efforts, All The Time, To Start Dialogue With The Slorc, But You Know It Takes Two. We Don't Want A Monologue. We Would Like A Substantive Political Dialogue Among The Slorc, Political Leaders Including Myself, And Leaders Of Ethnic Groups-exactly As Stipulated In The U.n. General Assembly Resolution On Burma.

Calamities That Are Not The Result Of Purely Natural Phenomena Usually Have Their Origins, Distant And Obscure Though They May Be, In Common Human Failings.

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

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

There Is No Intrinsic Virtue To Law And Order Unless 'law' Is Equated With Justice And 'order' With The Discipline Of A People Satisfied That Justice Has Been Done.

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.

In Societies Where Men Are Truly Confident Of Their Own Worth Women Are Not Merely "tolerated", They Are Valued.

A Most Insidious Form Of Fear Is That Which Masquerades As Common Sense Or Even Wisdom, Condemning As Foolish, Reckless, Insignificant Or Futile The Small, Daily Acts Of Courage Which Help To Preserve Man's Self-respect And Inherent Human Dignity.

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Jeremy Clarkson

J. R. Moehringer

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