Aung San Suu Kyi Quotes - Page 9

I was surprised by the response of young people because there is a perception that those younger than the 1988 generation are not interested in politics.

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.

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.

As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many.

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.

We're nowhere near democracy. I've been released, that's all.

I don't believe in professional dissidents. I think it's just a phase, like adolescence.

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.

I don't understand why people say that I am full of courage. I feel terribly nervous.

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

I was a bit of a coward when I was small. I was terribly frightened of the dark.

I would like to have seen my sons growing up.

I've always said that the more coordinated the efforts of the international community are, the better it will be for democracy in Burma.

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 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'm feeling a little delicate.

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.

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 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.

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.

The terms of the 2008 constitution [which ensures the military will continue to be the ultimate authority] could not benefit Burma in the long run. I think this constitution should be revised.

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.

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).

You must remember that democracy is made up not only of the executive, but the legislature and the judiciary.