Democracy is when the people keep a government in check.

We're nowhere near democracy. I've been released, that's all.

If you look at the democratic process as a game of chess, there have to be many, many moves before you get to checkmate. And simply because you do not make any checkmate in three moves does not mean it's stalemate. There's a vast difference between no checkmate and stalemate. This is what the democratic process is like.

It would be difficult to dispel ignorance unless there is freedom to pursue the truth unfettered by fear.

In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth women are not merely "tolerated", they are valued.

I was a bit of a coward when I was small. I was terribly frightened of the dark.

The terms of the 2008 constitution [which ensures the military will continue to be the ultimate authority] could not benefit Burma in the long run. I think this constitution should be revised.