I don't think you can work on feelings in politics, apart from anything else, political change can come very unexpectedly, sometimes overnight when you least expect it.

To be forgotten, is to die a little.

I don't believe in professional dissidents. I think it's just a phase, like adolescence.

I think that freedom is sometimes a state of mind. Sometimes, mind you, but not always.

Human beings want to be free and however long they may agree to stay locked up, to stay oppressed, there will come a time when they say 'That's it.' Suddenly they find themselves doing something that they never would have thought they would be doing, simply because of the human instinct that makes them turn their face towards freedom.

Burma wants to have good relations with our neighboring countries, China and India. I do believe the United States itself wants to live in harmony with China and India. That's why we have to lay down political policies that are fair for everyone.

I've never thought of myself as being particularly brave - I used to be frightened of the dark when I was small. And I'm not very good with dead rats and things like that. But I face what has to be faced and I hope as best as I'm able.