People ask me about what sacrifices I've made. I always answer: I've made no sacrifices, I've made choices.
We want to empower our people; we want to strengthen them; we want to provide them with the kind of qualifications that will enable them to build up their own country themselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals through education and support to enable self-sufficiency and national development.
Aung San Suu Kyi's quote highlights the significant role of empowerment in nation-building. By focusing on strengthening individuals and providing them with the necessary qualifications, she advocates for a grassroots approach to development where people are equipped to contribute meaningfully to their country's progress rather than relying solely on external assistance or leadership. This vision promotes autonomy, resilience, and a sense of ownership among citizens, which are essential for sustainable development.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to young leaders about the importance of education in community development.
More from Aung San Suu Kyi
All quotes →The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity. It is a struggle that encompasses our political, social and economic aspirations.
This was the way I was brought up to think of politics, that politics was to do with ethics, it was to do with responsibility, it was to do with service, so I think I was conditioned to think like that, and I'm too old to change now.
My top priority is for people to understand that they have the power to change things themselves.
If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise.
Where there is no justice there can be no secure peace.
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Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say, 'God, he said exactly what I was thinking.' And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death.
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I’d like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts. That’s how I’d like to be remembered.
You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it.
Great ambition, the desire of real superiority, of leading and directing, seems to be altogether peculiar to man, and speech is the great instrument of ambition.
The first lady is, and always has been, an unpaid public servant elected by one person, her husband.