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 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.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of fighting for democracy and human rights, equating it to the fundamental struggles for life and dignity.
Aung San Suu Kyi highlights that the fight for democracy and human rights in Burma is not just a political struggle, but a deeply rooted quest for basic human dignity and the ability to live a life of respect and opportunity. This struggle is interwoven with the people's aspirations across political, social, and economic dimensions, illustrating that true progress cannot be achieved without addressing these fundamental rights.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire people at a rally advocating for human rights.
People ask me about what sacrifices I've made. I always answer: I've made no sacrifices, I've made choices.
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.
I felt that it was my duty not to senselessly waste my time. And since I didn't want to waste my time, I tried to accomplish as much as possible.
Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
Strength, both physical and spiritual, is the product of struggle!
Consider what you want to do in relation to what you are capable of doing. Climbing is, above all, a matter of integrity.
Covering the civil-rights movement was a mind- and eye-opener for me. Houston was a segregated society, as was Texas as a whole - some of it by law, a lot of it by fear and tradition. But there was no violence where I lived, and if there was hate, it was either concealed from me or I just didn't recognize it.
My singing silenced the bullies, but better than that, it silenced the demons inside me. When you're jeered at, told to shut up, sit still, stop being silly, there's a cacophony of noise rolling around in your head. When I was singing, it was peaceful.
You could be a victim, you could be a hero, you could be a villain, or you could be a fugitive. But you could not just stand by. If you were in Europe between 1933 and 1945, you had to be something.
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