Top 160 Aung San Suu Kyi Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “Human beings the world over need freedom and security that they may be able to realize their full potential.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

103. “Each man has in him the potential to realize the truth through his own will and endeavour and to help others to realize it.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

104. “All repressive laws must be revoked, and laws introduced to protect the rights of the people.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

105. “I was heartened that people everywhere want certain basic freedoms, even if they live in a totally different cultural environment.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

106. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

108. “When you think of Buddhism, you’re likely to think of peace and tranquility.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

109. “I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons, but for political and practical reasons.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

110. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

113. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

114. “There is a special charm to journeys undertaken before daybreak in hot lands: the air is soft and cool and the coming of dawn reveals a landscape fresh from the night dew.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

115. “Democracy acknowledges the right to differ as well as the duty to settle differences peacefully. Authoritarian governments see criticism of their actions and doctrines as a challenge to combat.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

116. “Sometimes I didn’t even have enough money to eat. I became so weak from malnourishment that my hair fell out, and I couldn’t get out of bed.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

117. “Frankly, if you do politics, you should not be thinking about your dignity.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

118. “In politics, you also have to be cautiously optimistic.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

119. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

120. “Some believe that the only way to remove the authoritarian regime and replace it with a democratic one is through violent means. I would like to set the precedent of political change through political settlement, not through violence.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

121. “Perhaps Singapore could learn from us a more relaxed way of life.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

122. “As we strive to teach others we must have the humility to acknowledge that we too still have much to learn.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

123. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

125. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

126. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

128. “We’re nowhere near democracy. I’ve been released, that’s all.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

129. “I think I was the healthiest prisoner of conscience in the world.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

131. “Once serious political dialogue has begun, the international community can assume that we have achieved genuine progress along the road to real democratisation.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

132. “I don’t understand why people say that I am full of courage. I feel terribly nervous.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

133. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

134. “What does Burma have to give the United States? We can give you the opportunity to engage with people who are ready and willing to change a society.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

135. “If suffering were an unavoidable part of our existence, we should try to alleviate it as far as possible in practical, earthly ways.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

136. “Investment that only goes to enrich an already wealthy elite bent on monopolizing both economic and political power cannot contribute toward egalite and justice – the foundation stones for a sound democracy.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

137. “I worry that even those who want to reform are not quite sure how to go about it. There is so much to be done.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

138. “I don’t believe in professional dissidents. I think it’s just a phase, like adolescence.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

139. “Some of the best indicators of a country developing along the right lines are healthy mothers giving birth to healthy children who are assured of good care and a sound education that will enable them to face the challenges of a changing world.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

140. “History is always changing.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

141. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

142. “A lot of the roads, bridges, railways, and such are built through the use of forced labor, and that is causing the people great suffering. What we put into this in the form of human suffering is not worth what comes out of it.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

144. “I don’t like to be called a symbol. And I don’t like to be called an icon. I will just say that I have to work very, very hard. So I’d rather be known as a hard worker. I don’t think symbols do much, nor icons.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

146. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

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

— Aung San Suu Kyi

149. “I think sometimes if you are alone, you are freer because your time is your own.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi

150. “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.”

— Aung San Suu Kyi