Aung San Suu Kyi

The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity. It is a struggle that encompasses our political, social and economic aspirations.

Fear is not the natural state of civilized people.

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.

In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued.

The value systems of those with access to power and of those far removed from such access cannot be the same. The viewpoint of the privileged is unlike that of the underprivileged.

Human beings the world over need freedom and security that they may be able to realize their full potential.

The quest for democracy in Burma is the struggle of a people to live whole, meaningful lives as free and equal members of the world community.

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.

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.

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.

There is an evil chance that those who have suffered much may inflict suffering on others.

No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim.

These were all made-up stories.

the 'UN is so one-sided, they are not helping the situation'.

If you continue the narrative of the UN, you know, you might not get that access (to Rakhine State).

Muslims have been targeted but also Buddhists have been subject to violence. There's fear on both sides.

I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons, but for political and practical reasons.

Sometimes I think that a parody of democracy could be more dangerous than a blatant dictatorship, because that gives people an opportunity to avoid doing anything about it.

I don't want to see the military falling. I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism and true patriotism.