"If you have ever learned some poems, they will come in very handy if ever you are imprisoned."

Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival.

"When people have chosen a certain path, they should walk it with satisfaction and determination and not try to make it appear as a tremendous sacrifice. I think then it’s like asking for something back, saying, ‘Here I am, making this sacrifice,’ and I don’t think you should do it. Whatever you do out of your own free will, that should be a gift that you give to life or to those whom you love."

BBC-4 Desert Island Discs interview with Kirsty Young; podcast available here

Bishop Museum welcomed Suu Kyi today with a tour to give a deeper understanding of Hawaii’s culture and history. The museum also presented her with a manele a’e (Hawaiian soapberry) seed lei made by local artist Marques Hanalei Marzan 

(Source: hawaiinewsnow.com)

Mind = Blown

So  I found out from CNN’s Fast Facts on Aung San Suu Kyi that she and I were in Kyoto at the same time:

1985-1986 - Is a visiting scholar at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan.

YOUNGER SELF IF ONLY YOU HAD KNOWN. Now I must go deep into my memory and ask myself, if ever, when I was passing through the campus, I might have seen her.

(And yes, Tumblr, I’m that old.)

"The provision of basic material needs is not sufficient to make minority groups and indigenous peoples feel they are truly part of the greater national entity. For that they have to be confident that they too have an active role to play in shaping the destiny of the state that demands their allegiance."

Aung San Suu Kyi, “Empowerment for a Culture of Peace and Development,” 1994.

dassk:

Young Aung San Suu Kyi with her mother Daw Khin Kyi

"There is nothing to compare with the courage of ordinary people whose names are unknown and whose sacrifices pass unnoticed. The courage that dares without recognition, without the protection of media attention, is a courage that humbles and inspires and reaffirms our faith in humanity."

Aung San Suu Kyi, “Tribute,” Letters from Burma (New York: Penguin Books, 2010), 191.

"Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power."

Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear, 1990

"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."

Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear, 1990

"Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man’s self-respect and inherent dignity."

Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear, 1990