Top 129 Quotes & Sayings by Burmese Authors

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

Even one voice can be heard loudly all over the world in this day and age.

I don't think I have achieved anything that I can really be proud of.

I haven't heard any music on the BBC World Service in a long time. Maybe I'm listening at the wrong times. But not one single piece of music.

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.

What I have experienced is nothing compared to what political prisoners in prisons suffer.

Dissidents can't be dissidents forever; we are dissidents because we don't want to be dissidents.

If you do nothing you get nothing.

One wants to be together with one's family. That's what families are about.

If I was afraid of being killed, I would never speak out against the government.

Suffering degrades, embitters and enrages.

When you decide to follow a certain path, you should follow it to the end and not be diverted from it for personal reasons.

As long as there is no law in Burma, any individual here can be arrested at any time.

People keep saying I've changed. I used to be confrontational. But I'm - I haven't changed. It was - it's just that circumstances have changed.

We always think that everybody can do a little bit more, if not a lot more.

My attitude to peace is rather based on the Burmese definition of peace - it really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. So peace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.

For me, 'revolution' simply means radical change.

War is not the only arena where peace is done to death.

If you look at the democratic process as a game of chess, there have to be many, many moves before you get to checkmate. And simply because you do not make any checkmate in three moves does not mean it's stalemate. There's a vast difference between no checkmate and stalemate. This is what the democratic process is like.

Whatever help we may want from the international community now or in the future, we want to make sure that this help is tailored to help our people to help themselves.

A more significant phase should mean serious political dialogue.

I was heartened that people everywhere want certain basic freedoms, even if they live in a totally different cultural environment.

If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise.

People must work in unison.

If I were the blushing kind, I would blush to be called a hero.

There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk.

I knew some of the army quite well.

When I was under house arrest, it was the BBC that spoke to me - I listened.

Freedom and democracy are dreams you never give up.

Human beings the world over need freedom and security that they may be able to realize their full potential.

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

I think when the people in Burma stop thinking about whether or not they're free, it'll mean that they're free.

When the Nobel Committee chose to honor me, the road I had chosen of my own free will became a less lonely path to follow.

No, I was never afraid.

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.

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

The value systems of those with access to power and of those far removed from such access cannot be the same. The viewpoint of the privileged is unlike that of the underprivileged.

A family is very special. So when a family splits up, it's not good, it's never good.

I think I was the healthiest prisoner of conscience in the world.

I don't want to be president, but I want to be free to decide whether or not I want to be president of this country.

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.

If you can make people understand why freedom is so important through the arts, that would be a big help.

My attitude is, do as much as I can while I'm free. And if I'm arrested I'll still do as much as I can.

Confidence-building is not something that can go on forever. If it goes on forever then it becomes counterproductive.

I am prepared to talk with anyone. I have no personal grudge toward anybody.

We want to empower our people; we want to strengthen them; we want to provide them with the kind of qualifications that will enable them to build up their own country themselves.

More people, especially young people, are realising that if they want change, they've got to go about it themselves - they can't depend on a particular person, i.e. me, to do all the work. They are less easy to fool than they used to be, they now know what's going on all over the world.

The history of the world shows that peoples and societies do not have to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development.

I don't think of myself as unbreakable. Perhaps I'm just rather flexible and adaptable.

You cannot compromise unless people talk to you.

I was surprised by the response of young people because there is a perception that those younger than the 1988 generation are not interested in politics.

I would like to have seen my sons growing up.

I do protect human rights, and I hope I shall always be looked up as a champion of human rights.

The judiciary in Burma is not independent. It's widely known, everybody knows that.

All military regimes use security as the reason why they should remain in power. It's nothing original.

I look forward to trying the Internet.

To be forgotten, is to die a little.

When we think of the state of the economy, we are not thinking in terms of money flow. We are thinking in terms of the effect on everyday lives of people.

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.

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.