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 don't want to be president, but I want to be free to decide whether or not I want to be president of this country.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a desire for personal freedom in decision-making, rather than the title of a position.
Aung San Suu Kyi's quote highlights the importance of individual freedom, particularly the freedom to make choices for oneself. It reflects a deep understanding that true autonomy lies not in holding power itself, but in having the liberty to decide one's own path, including whether to pursue leadership roles. This sentiment resonates with the struggle for democracy and personal agency against oppressive forces.
In practice
This quote would be perfect for a speech on the importance of personal liberty 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.
Freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. We have to fight for it and protect it and then hand it to them, so that they shall do the same, or we're going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children's children, about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free.
If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.
Freedom is something that dies unless it's used.
For those who know the value of and exquisite taste of solitary freedom (for one is only free when alone), the act of leaving is the bravest and most beautiful of all.
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Independence means we enjoy freedom. We are not colonised by people. And we can govern our own country and develop it independently so that our people can live a better life.
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