Even if you feel fear, you still have to go ahead and do what you believe in.

There can be no civil peace without the rule of law.

It is the love of ordinary people, in Burma, in Japan or anywhere else in the world, for justice and peace and freedom that is our surest defense against the forces of unreason and extremism.

Fear is not the natural state of civilized people.

Frankly, if you do politics, you should not be thinking about your dignity.

As I travel through my country, people often ask me how it feels to have been imprisoned in my home -first for six years, then for 19 months. How could I stand the separation from family and friends? It is ironic, I say, that in an authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of conscience who is genuinely free. Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But we have stayed true to that most precious part of our humanity-our conscience.

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.