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.

The four basic ingredients for success are: you must have the will to want something; you must have the right kind of attitude; you must have perseverance, and then you must have wisdom. Then you combine these four and then you get to where you want to get to.

India and Burma have been close friends since the days we were struggling for independence. And I'm a great admirer of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and all those leaders of India's independence movement. I would like to believe the aspirations and hopes we shared in the past will continue to bind us in the future.

When fear sets in, you don't trust others and when you don't trust anyone then you become selfish.

Every government must consider the security of the country. That is just part of the responsibilities of any government. But true security can only come out of unity within a country where there are so many ethnic nationalities.

The best way to deal with AIDS is through education. So we need a really widespread AIDS education program. In fact, what we need in Burma is education of all kinds - political, economic, and medical. AIDS education would be just part of a whole program for education, which is so badly needed in our country.

I always say that one has no right to hope without endeavor.