“Courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as ‘grace under pressure’ – grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.”

I think more women should be involved in politics for the good of the human race.

The value systems of those with access to power and of those far removed from such access cannot be the same.

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear

The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk.

We have to choose between dialogue and utter devastation.

How could I stand the separation from family and friends? It is ironic, I say, that in an authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of conscience who is genuinely free. Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But we have stayed true to that most precious part of our humanity-our conscience.

People ask me about what sacrifices I’ve made. I always answer: I’ve made no sacrifices, I’ve made choices.

Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people.

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

It’s good to know that the people of different countries are really concerned and involved in the movement to help Burma.

That just laws which uphold human rights are the necessary foundation of peace and security would be denied only by closed minds which interpret peace as the silence of all opposition and security as the assurance of their own power.

Justice is a dream. But it is a dream that we are determined to realize.

The greatest gift for an individual or a nation… was abhaya, fearlessness, not merely bodily courage but absence of fear from the mind.

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

To be kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others.

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.

The search which takes place in my studio might best be described as a mining operation, a vertical dig in which a number of discoveries are apt to surface from a single shaft.

Composition is frozen improvisation.

The will determines itself; it should not be described as blind, any more than vision should be described as deaf.

A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.

EXTRA is how I describe everything.

Life is too deep for words, so don’t try to describe it, just live it.

And sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in.

Don’t use your words to describe the situation. Use your words to change the situation.