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
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. We work for what we want. I always say that one has no right to hope without endeavor, so we work to try and bring about the situation that is necessary for the country, and we are confident that we will get to the negotiation table at one time or another. This is the way all such situations pan out even with the most truculent dictator.
Interpretation
Hope alone is insufficient; active effort is required to achieve desired outcomes.
In this quote, Aung San Suu Kyi emphasizes that mere hope does not lead to change or achievement. Instead, she advocates for the necessity of hard work and determination in striving toward goals, particularly in challenging political situations. She underscores the importance of taking action to create desirable circumstances, suggesting that only through endeavor can one genuinely earn the right to hope for a positive outcome.
In practice
During a motivational speech about perseverance in difficult times.
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.
Every calling is great when greatly pursued.
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.
To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.
If the thing you wish to do is right, and YOU BELIEVE IN IT, go ahead and do it! Put your dreams across, and never mind what 'they' say if you meet with temporary defeat, for 'they' perhaps, do not know that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success.
There are always limits, and opportunities. The ones we rehearse and focus on are the ones that shape our future.
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