Young people drift away from society because, in many cases, they have no hope or goals. So, hope will have to be given to the young.

At the moment I would like to emphasize the need for vocational training, for non-formal education in Burma to help all those young people who have suffered from a bad education. They have to be trained to earn their living. They have to have enough education vocational training to be able to set up respectable lives for themselves.

The greatest gift for an individual or a nation... was abhaya, fearlessness, not merely bodily courage but absence of fear from the mind.

When I was in London a Kachin youth criticized me for not condemning the Burmese military for their offensive in Kachin State. I answered "condemnation is not the solution." We want to build reconciliation, not condemnation.

When fear sets in, you don't trust others and when you don't trust anyone then you become selfish.

It is not enough to sit and hope. You have to work in order to realize your hopes.

There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk.