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

Each and every one of us is capable of making such a contribution.

There is nothing to be gained by being unnecessarily nasty. Violence begets violence.

Jobless people will have no self-confidence. And they feel they are worthless because when you don’t have a job you have to rely on someone.

It is not power that corrupts but fear.

If you are feeling helpless, help someone.

I’ve always thought that the best solution for those who feel helpless is for them to help others.

Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour.

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.

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.

In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth women are not merely “tolerated”, they are valued.

When I was in London a Kachin youth criticized me for not condemning the Burmese military for their offensive in Kachin State. I answered “condemnation is not the solution.” We want to build reconciliation, not condemnation.

One should mature over 20 years.

The true measure of the justice of a system is the amount of protection it guarantees to the weakest.

Kindness can change the lives of people.

It would be difficult to dispel ignorance unless there is freedom to pursue the truth unfettered by fear.

My top priority is for people to understand that they have the power to change things themselves.

I have no objection to a man being a man, however masculine that may be.

There are some who esteem that it is a naivety to believe that a moral regeneration may be possible (“soit possible”, Fr.); now, if this was not the case, it would not be worth the trouble that humanity continue to vegetate without aim.

Any material may be used but the theme is the same and the response is the same for all artwork.

It is not on the ruin of liberty that we may (in the future… – “pourra”, Fr.) build justice.

Science may carry us to Mars, but it will leave the earth peopled as ever by the inept.

History is, and has always been trameled by facts. It may ignore some and deny others; but it cannot accommodate itself unreservedly to theories; it cannot be stripped of things evidenced in favor of things surmised.

We may fail of our happiness, strive we ever so bravely; but we are less likely to fail if we measure with judgement our chances and our capabilities.

If I like a person, I like them. I may like the art and not like the person.