Quotes By Aung San Suu Kyi

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.

If I was afraid of being killed, I would never speak out against the government.

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.

For me, 'revolution' simply means radical change.

I don't think you can work on feelings in politics, apart from anything else, political change can come very unexpectedly, sometimes overnight when you least expect it.

All repressive laws must be revoked, and laws introduced to protect the rights of the people.

If I were the blushing kind, I would blush to be called a hero.

In politics, you also have to be cautiously optimistic.

I think I was the healthiest prisoner of conscience in the world.

You cannot compromise unless people talk to you.

Books always help.

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

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.

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

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.

In terms of the history of a far reaching movement, 20 years is not that long.

It could achieve a lot if everyone in Burma could stop saying something is good if it is not good, or say something is just if it is not just.

Of course I regret not having been able to spend time with my family.

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.

When you decide to follow a certain path, you should follow it to the end and not be diverted from it for personal reasons.

Dissidents can't be dissidents forever; we are dissidents because we don't want to be dissidents.

I'm rather inclined to liking people.

By helping others, you will learn how to help yourselves.

What does Burma have to give the United States? We can give you the opportunity to engage with people who are ready and willing to change a society.

Maybe it is something to do with age, but I have become fonder of poetry than of prose.

As long as there is no law in Burma, any individual here can be arrested at any time.

I've always tried to explain democracy is not perfect. But it gives you a chance to shape your own destiny.

Fires of suffering and strife are raging around the world.

The judiciary in Burma is not independent. It's widely known, everybody knows that.

Since we live in this world, we have to do our best for this world.