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

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

It is incorrect to say there have been no reforms at all in Burma; there have of course been reforms, but we still need to do more for the people. To become a democratic society we have to continually be reforming.

More people, especially young people, are realising that if they want change, they've got to go about it themselves – they can't depend on a particular person, ie me, to do all the work. They are less easy to fool than they used to be, they now know what's going on all over the world.

In Burma, we have only about four percent of the people in our country who are (college) graduates. So can we not value the majority? No, we must. If we just value the graduates, then does that mean our people are not valuable? I don't believe that. What is important is we need right people in right positions.

I don't seem to have time to breathe. Everything's happening so quickly, and so much is happening all the time.

If I advocate cautious optimism it is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith.