AUNG SAN SUU KYI QUOTES
Nobel Peace Prize winner (1945- )
I do not have any desire for vengeance, but I also accept that I was treated well. I was placed under house arrest, but that is all. I was not ill-treated the way our people were ill-treated in prison. And while they may have reviled me in the state newspapers, which they did almost on a daily basis at one time, when they came to see me and any contact I had with the authorities and security forces, they were always respectful, they were always behaved very well with me. So I have no reason to wish for vengeance, but I can understand that there would be some who find it unforgivable, who find unforgivable what was done to them over the years. But I think we have to look at the larger picture. We can't concentrate on the emotions of those who wish for vengeance. We have to find a way out of that syndrome of anger for anger, violence for violence and we have to break out of that and we have to build our country on the vision we have of the future.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
interview, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Nov. 28, 2013
There is a special charm to journeys undertaken before daybreak in hot lands: the air is soft and cool and the coming dawn reveals a landscape fresh from the night dew.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Letters From Burma
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
attributed, Instinct for Freedom: Finding Liberation Through Living
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.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Letters From Burma
As we strive to teach others we must have the humility to acknowledge that we too still have much to learn.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Keynote Address at NGO Forum on Women, Beijing China, Aug. 31, 1995
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 traveler in a desert fixes his eyes on the one guiding star that will lead him to salvation.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Nobel Lecture, Jun. 16, 2012
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. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Nobel Lecture, Jun. 16, 2012
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.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Nobel Lecture, Jun. 16, 2012
If you're feeling helpless, help someone.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Freedom from Fear
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.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
In Quest of Democracy
In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Keynote Address at NGO Forum on Women, Beijing China, Aug. 31, 1995
The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Keynote Address at NGO Forum on Women, Beijing China, Aug. 31, 1995
It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Freedom from Fear
Please use your liberty to promote ours.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
"Please Use Your Liberty to Promote Ours", International Herald Tribune, Feb. 4, 1997
Democracy, like liberty, justice and other social and political rights, is not "given", it is earned through courage, resolution and sacrifice.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
In Quest of 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.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
interview, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2012
The first six years I was kept totally alone. The last six years I had two people staying in the house. The first six years really trained me very well.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
interview, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2012
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.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Freedom from Fear
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.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Freedom from Fear
To the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by women. But it is women and children who have always suffered most in situations of conflict.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Keynote Address at NGO Forum on Women, Beijing China, Aug. 31, 1995