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
One person alone can't do anything as important as bringing genuine democracy to a country.
Interpretation
Democracy requires collective effort rather than the work of one individual alone.
Aung San Suu Kyi emphasizes the importance of collaboration and collective action in achieving significant political change, like establishing a genuine democracy. Her words reflect the idea that democratic principles cannot be realized by an individual alone; they require the involvement and commitment of society as a whole.
In practice
In a speech about civic engagement, mention how important it is for individuals to participate in democracy.
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 an axiom of political science in the United States that the sole means of neutralizing the effects of newspapers is to multiply their number.
If, then, the control of the people over the organs of their government be the measure of its republicanism, and I confess I know no other measure, it must be agreed that our governments have much less of republicanism than ought to have been expected; in other words, that the people have less regular control over their agents, than their rights and their interests require.
A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'
Freedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that 'Oh, I don't get involved in politics,' as if that makes someone cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn't insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.
Elected officials shouldnβt get to choose who gets to choose elected officials.
I have an idea about voting, how about on every ballot we include "None of the above". People may laugh at that, but what that is, it is a vote of no confidence in your government and I'm willing to bet that in some elections, 'None of the Above' would win. Imagine if you won the election but lost to 'None of the Above'. Wouldn't that make you re-think your positions?
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