Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world... Kindness can change the lives of people.

The search for scapegoats is essentially an abnegation of responsibility: it indicates an inability to assess honestly and intelligently the true nature of the problems which lie at the root of social and economic difficulties and a lack of resolve in grappling with them.

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear

The people of my country want the two freedoms that spell security: freedom from want and freedom from fear.

So, I think that for the authorities to say now that calling for sanctions will prevent dialogue is a ploy to stop us from supporting sanctions. It has to be the other way around: dialogue first, then we stop our call for sanctions, because sanctions make people understand that you cannot exercise repression and at the same time expect international support.

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.

I think by now I have made it fairly clear that I am not very happy with the word hope. I don't believe in people just hoping.