People ask me about what sacrifices I've made. I always answer: I've made no sacrifices, I've made choices.
As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of standing up for human rights and the injustice of individual suffering.
Aung San Suu Kyi's quote speaks to the heart of human rights advocacy, reminding us that the suffering of even a single individual, particularly those imprisoned for their beliefs, is unacceptable. It serves as a call to recognize and act against injustice, highlighting the collective responsibility to defend those who cannot defend themselves. In essence, the message is that the fight for freedom and dignity must include every individual, as the incarceration of one reflects a failure for all of humanity.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a speech about human rights awareness.
More from Aung San Suu Kyi
All quotes βThe 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.
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The only safety for the conquered is to expect no safety.
I became a bomb technician because I wanted to save lives. I nearly gave my own life for that - I lost both my legs and a finger when a roadside bomb detonated beneath me - and have known more heroes than I can count who died defending others.
My father was convinced the Taliban would hunt him down and kill him, but he again refused security from the police. 'If you go around with a lot of security the Taliban will use Kalashnikovs or suicide bombers and more people will be killed,' he said. 'At least I'll be killed alone.'
We despise and abhor the bully, the brawler, the oppressor, whether in private or public life, but we despise no less the coward and the voluptuary. No man is worth calling a man who will not fight rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong.
It's a lose-lose situation to get in a confrontation on the street. If you can break contact and get away, break contact and get away. That's what you should learn self-defense for.
if they put an iron circle around your neck I will bite it away