People ask me about what sacrifices I've made. I always answer: I've made no sacrifices, I've made choices.
Aung San Suu KyiRead
The basis of democratic freedom is freedom of speech.
Interpretation
Democratic freedom relies fundamentally on the right to express one's thoughts and opinions.
Aung San Suu Kyi emphasizes the crucial role that freedom of speech plays in a democratic society. Without the ability for individuals to voice their opinions, share ideas, and engage in open discourse, the very foundation of democracy is compromised. This quote highlights that true democracy is dependent on ensuring all voices can be heard, making it vital for societal progress and the protection of individual rights.
In practice
In a lecture about the importance of civil liberties.
People ask me about what sacrifices I've made. I always answer: I've made no sacrifices, I've made choices.
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.
This was the way I was brought up to think of politics, that politics was to do with ethics, it was to do with responsibility, it was to do with service, so I think I was conditioned to think like that, and I'm too old to change now.
My top priority is for people to understand that they have the power to change things themselves.
If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise.
Where there is no justice there can be no secure peace.
It is our misfortune, as a historical generation, to live through the largest expansion in expressive capability in human history, a misfortune because abundance breaks more things than scarcity.
Global markets must be balanced by global values such as respect for human rights and international law, democracy, security and sustainable economic and environmental development.
The hand is the visible part of the brain.
Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself.
There is a name hidden in the shadow of my soul, where I read it night and day and no other eye sees it.
Only the children know what they are looking for. They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry.
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