“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.”

Challenges mean opportunities as well.

The people of my country want the two freedoms that spell security: freedom from want and freedom from fear.

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.

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

The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation’s development.

With the right kind of institutions, starting with the rule of law, Burma could progress very quickly.

Kindness can change the lives of people.

Sometimes, 24 hours can bring a total revolutionary change.

There’s a vast difference between no checkmate and stalemate. This is what the democratic process is like.

How can you call it a sacrifice when you choose to do something because you believe in it?

Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration.

Peace as a goal is an ideal which will not be contested by any government or nation, not even the most belligerent.

Weak logic, inconsistencies and alienation from the people are common features of authoritarianism.

You may not think about politics, but politics think about you.

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 was given some Harry Potter books by a young friend. I wanted to know why young people liked it so much. And I noted that there were some values in Harry Potter that are common to many books that are popular all over the world. In the end,

People tune in to the Fox News Channel because it was founded on the premise that all sides should be presented fairly.

Custard pie humour is fairly universal, but at the other end, which I’m more interested in, there’s the humour that hovers on the darkness, that walks in the shadow of something else, not always that obvious.

The easiest time to be funny is during a fairly serious situation. That way, you can break the ice.