Agreeing to disagree is a prerogative only of those who live under a democratic system.

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

If ideas and beliefs are to be denied validity outside the geographical and cultural bounds of their origin, Buddhism would be confined to north India, Christianity to a narrow tract in the Middle East and Islam to Arabia.

I learned to work on a computer years before I was placed under house arrest. Fortunately I had two laptops when I was under house arrest - one an Apple and one a different operating system. I was very proud of that because I know how to use both systems.

Burmese political culture lacks an understanding of negotiated compromise. We have to build up that kind of culture.

Burma is not yet a full-fledged democracy. We have started working on the road to full democracy. We have a lot of things to do in order to build a democratic structure and to be become a full-fledged democracy.

I've always said that the more coordinated the efforts of the international community are, the better it will be for democracy in Burma.