I was speaking to a writer the other day and he gave me a valuable piece of advice. He said that you may get to where you want to go quicker through violence, but the healing process takes longer. Whereas if you don't use violence, there is not much healing necessary, so you win in the long run.

It's good to know that the people of different countries are really concerned and involved in the movement to help Burma. I think in some ways it's better to have the people of the world on your side than the governments of the world, even if governments can be more effective in certain directions.

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.

I feel that the BBC World Service is not as versatile as it used to be - or perhaps I'm not listening at the right times.

Lasting solutions are always difficult to come to. But they will have to persevere. I've been repeating ad nauseam that we in Burma we are weak with regard to the culture of negotiated compromises, that we have to develop the ability to achieve such compromises.

The Nobel Peace Prize opened up a door in my heart.

To have compromise you must first have dialog. That is the true path of democracy.