I don't understand why people say that I am full of courage. I feel terribly nervous.

Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.

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

I only used a cell phone for the first time after I was released. I had difficulty coping with it because it seemed so small and insubstantial.

Fires of suffering and strife are raging around the world.

I do not look upon my life as a sacrifice at all.

It is often in the name of cultural integrity as well as social stability and national security that democratic reforms based on human rights are resisted by authoritarian governments.