Frankly, if you do politics, you should not be thinking about your dignity.

Every government must consider the security of the country. That is just part of the responsibilities of any government. But true security can only come out of unity within a country where there are so many ethnic nationalities.

After I was released, people used to keep asking me, 'what's it like to be free? And it was very difficult for me to answer. I'd always felt free. As far as my state of mind was concerned, I didn't feel any different...People ask me about what sacrifices I've made. I always answer: I've made no sacrifices, I've made choices.

Once serious political dialogue has begun, the international community can assume that we have achieved genuine progress along the road to real democratisation.

We achieve everything by our efforts alone. Our fate is not decided by an almighty God. We decide our own fate by our actions. You have to gain mystery over yourself. It is not a matter of sitting back and accepting.

There is nothing to be gained by being unnecessarily nasty. Violence begets violence.

If ideas and beliefs are to be denied validity outside the geographical and cultural bounds of their origin, Buddhism would be confined to north India, Christianity to a narrow tract in the Middle East and Islam to Arabia.