Aung San Suu Kyi Quotes

In countries where democracy is either non-existent or in development, on the other hand, citizens crave those freedoms. Maybe that is one lesson Western citizens can learn from those countries: treasure what you have. Use your rights and freedoms to effect the change you want.

Real freedom will require many changes in the nation’s political and social philosophies and institutions.

Frederick Douglas's agenda was an agenda, not for black people to get out of slavery. It was for America to become a better democracy. And it's spilt over for women's rights; it's split over for worker's rights and so forth.

The people's right to change what does not work is one of the greatest principles in our system of government

What Tunisia urgently needs, is freedom and the building of a real democracy.

As civilization advances there is a continual change in the standard of human rights.

The excellence of the West lies not in its accomplishments in the sciences, arts and technology, but rather, these accomplishments are the outgrowth of the West's respect for the human being, the recognition of his individuality, the liberty it has granted him, and the establishment of government in the service of the people—the government belongs to the people, and they do not belong to it. This is a qualitative change, unprecedented in human history

Democratic rights develop when the ruled demand them and have the means to prevail.

Roger Williams... successfully vindicated the right of private judgment in matters of conscience, and effected a moral and political revolution in all governments of the civilized world.

It is a hard, tough time now in the Middle East, and it is up to people to change things.—not only by changing regimes and political stuff, but also by believing in women.

We live in a scientific revolution. In such an epoch of revolutionary change, those who identity laissez-faire with liberty are enemies, however unwitting, of democracy

Repression and intimidation are not - and never should be - the acceptable companions of reform.

China after Olympics will progress very slowly. But the demands for freedom - on the part of ordinary people but also party members - won't be as easy to contain.

All economic and political institutions are contrivances that should serve the interests of the people. When they fail to do so, they should be replaced by something more responsive, more just, and more democratic. Marx said this, and so did Jefferson. It is a revolutionary doctrine, and very much an American one.

Free societies...are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom's existence.

In order to improve democracy, then, it's necessary to change the people, as Brecht ironically proposed.

Changes are inseparable from democracy. To defend democracy is to defend the possibility of change; in turn, changes alone can strengthen democracy.

In any nation in which people's rights have been subordinated to the rights of the few, in any totalitarian nation, the first institution to be dismantled is the jury. I was, I am, afraid.

In raising a people from slavery to freedom, you have called them to act on a new theatre; and it is a necessary part of your business, to teach them how to perform their parts.

I insist that people - wherever they live - have their rights and they must be able to fight for them.

For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom, and strive to build a community of peaceful, democratic nations.

All over this world people are standing up for freedom.

The respect for human rights is one of the most significant advantages of a free and democratic nation in the peaceful struggle for influence, and we should use this good weapon as effectively as possible.

This is the beginning of a social movement in fact and not in pronouncements. We seek our basic, God - given rights as human beings...We shall do it without violence because it is our destiny. To the growers and to all who oppose us, we say the words of Benito Juarez: 'Respect for another's right is the meaning of peace.'

Burma is not yet a full-fledged democracy. We have started working on the road to full democracy. We have a lot of things to do in order to build a democratic structure and to be become a full-fledged democracy.