Inspiration September 27, 2017
"By helping others, you will learn how to help yourselves."
Burmese State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi didn’t let 15 years of house arrest stop her from fighting for democracy in her country.
Suu Kyi was born in Yangon, Myanmar but settled in the U.K. after attending university there.
But once she went back to her hometown to look after her ill mother, she never left. At the time, political demonstrations were taking over the streets of Myanmar. Citizens were demanding democratic reform. So, Suu Kyi joined the movement.
Eventually, the army arrested Suu Kyi after taking over the demonstrations.
Five years after her release, her party, the National League for Democracy, was democratically elected into office.
Suu Kyi then created the position of State Counsellor, a position similar to a Prime Minister, for herself to circumvent the ban on her serving as president since her children are foreign nationals.
Suu Kyi received her Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her peaceful fight for democracy and human rights.
As an empowered woman, Suu Kyi is an example of the peace and justice women can bring to the world.
So, we compiled a list of famous Aung San Suu Kyi quotes on peace and politics to empower the leader in you.
“My attitude to peace is rather based on the Burmese definition of peace – it really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. 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.”
“By helping others, you will learn how to help yourselves.”
“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.”
“Human beings want to be free and however long they may agree to stay locked up, to stay oppressed, there will come a time when they say ‘That’s it.’ Suddenly they find themselves doing something that they never would have thought they would be doing, simply because of the human instinct that makes them turn their face towards freedom.”
“More people, especially young people, are realizing that if they want change, they’ve got to go about it themselves – they can’t depend on a particular person, i.e. me, to do all the work. They are less easy to fool than they used to be, they now know what’s going on all over the world.”
“If you do nothing you get nothing.”
“I don’t think of myself as unbreakable. Perhaps I’m just rather flexible and adaptable.”
“Even one voice can be heard loudly all over the world in this day and age.”
“A revolution simply means great change, significant change, and that’s how I’m defining it – great change for the better, brought about through non-violent means.”
Suu Kyi suffered years of isolation but used her loneliness to meditate and grow. Her struggle and fight portray the resilience and strength of a true leader.
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