My top priority is for people to understand that they have the power to change things themselves.

Peace as a goal is an ideal which will not be contested by any government or nation, not even the most belligerent.

If suffering were an unavoidable part of our existence, we should try to alleviate it as far as possible in practical, earthly ways.

I don't think of myself as unbreakable. Perhaps I'm just rather flexible and adaptable.

My attitude to peace is rather based on the Burmese definition of peace - it really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. So peace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.

Burma is not yet a full-fledged democracy. We have started working on the road to full democracy. We have a lot of things to do in order to build a democratic structure and to be become a full-fledged democracy.

To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy.