“I have been free for more than a month. Some people may think that that is long enough. Others may think that that is not quite long enough.”

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

“A revolution simply means great change, significant change, and that’s how I’m defining it – great change for the better, brought about through non-violent means.”

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

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

“At this age, I should be leading a quiet life.”

“Burmese authors and artists can play the role that artists everywhere play. They help to mold the outlook of a society – not the whole outlook, and they are not the only ones to mold the outlook of society, but they have an important role to play there.”

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

“Dissidents can’t be dissidents forever; we are dissidents because we don’t want to be dissidents.”

“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.”

“For me, ‘revolution’ simply means radical change.”

“Freedom and democracy are dreams you never give up.”

“History is always changing.”

“Human beings want to be free and however long they may agree to stay locked up, to stay oppressed, there will come a time when they say ‘That’s it.’ Suddenly they find themselves doing something that they never would have thought they would be doing, simply because of the human instinct that makes them turn their face towards freedom.”

“I am not unaware of the saying that more tears have been shed over wishes granted than wishes denied.”

“I could listen to the radio and I had access to books from time to time. Not all the time.”

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

“I don’t think I have achieved anything that I can really be proud of.”

“I don’t think you can work on feelings in politics, apart from anything else, political change can come very unexpectedly, sometimes overnight when you least expect it.”

“I don’t want Burma to be a basket case forever.”

“I don’t want to see the military falling. I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism and true patriotism.”

“I felt that it was my duty not to senselessly waste my time. And since I didn’t want to waste my time, I tried to accomplish as much as possible.”

“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 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.”

“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 think I should be active politically. Because I look upon myself as a politician. That’s not a dirty work you know. Some people think that there are something wrong with politicians. Of course, something wrong with some politicians.”

“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.”

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

“I was a bit of a coward when I was small. I was terribly frightened of the dark.”

“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’m not the only one working for democracy in Burma – there are so many people who have worked for it because they believe that this is the only way we can maintain the dignity of our people.”

“I’ve always been strongly on the side of non-violence.”

“I’ve always tried to explain democracy is not perfect. But it gives you a chance to shape your own destiny.”

“If I advocate cautious optimism it is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith.”

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

“If you choose to do something, then you shouldn’t say it’s a sacrifice, because nobody forced you to do it.”

“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.”

“In general people feel more relaxed about participating in politics. They aren’t frightened as they used to be.”

“In terms of the history of a far reaching movement, 20 years is not that long.”

“It could achieve a lot if everyone in Burma could stop saying something is good if it is not good, or say something is just if it is not just.”

“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.”

“Maybe it is something to do with age, but I have become fonder of poetry than of prose.”

“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.”

“My opinion is the greatest reward that any government could get is the approval of the people. If the people are happy and the people are at peace and the government has done something for them, that’s the greatest reward I think any government could hope for.”

“Of course I regret not having been able to spend time with my family.”

“One person alone can’t do anything as important as bringing genuine democracy to a country.”

“One wants to be together with one’s family. That’s what families are about.”

“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.”

“Regime is made up of people, so I do put faces to regimes and governments, so I feel that all human beings have the right to be given the benefit of the doubt, and they also have to be given the right to try to redeem themselves if they so wish.”

“Sanctions are not really an economic weapon.”

“Sometimes I think that a parody of democracy could be more dangerous than a blatant dictatorship, because that gives people an opportunity to avoid doing anything about it.”

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

“The democracy process provides for political and social change without violence.”

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

“The people have given me their support; they have given me their trust and confidence. My colleagues have suffered a lot in order to give me support. I do not look upon my life as a sacrifice at all.”

“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.”

“There is so much that we need to do for our country. I don’t think that we can afford to wait.”

“To be forgotten, is to die a little.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

“You cannot compromise unless people talk to you.”