“Intimidation and propaganda work in a duet of oppression, while the people, lapped in fear and distrust, learn to dissemble and to keep silent.”

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.

I always say that one has no right to hope without endeavor.

Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world…

Fearlessness may be a gift, but perhaps most precious is courage from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions.

The search for scapegoats is essentially an abnegation of responsibility: it indicates an inability to assess honestly and intelligently the true nature of the problems which lie at the root of social and economic difficulties and a lack of resolve in grappling with them.

Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men and women are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society.

The four basic ingredients for success are: you must have the will to want something; you must have the right kind of attitude.

There is no hope without endeavor.

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 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.

By helping others, you will learn how to help yourselves.

Democracy is when the people keep a government in check.

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

The good ruler sublimates his needs as an individual to the service of the nation.

I think it’s time for the Army to understand that power should be enshrined in the people if we are to be a genuine democracy and not in any particular institution or organisation.

If you feel helpless, go help someone.

We are so used to dissembling with others that in time we come to deceive and dissemble with ourselves.

We cannot afford to dissemble about crimes against humanity.