Suu speaks
"courage rises up again and again..."
The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit.
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.
Saints…are the sinners who go on trying. Free men are the oppressed who go on trying.
Fearlessness may be a gift, but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as "grace under pressure" – grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.
Even under the most crushing state machinery, courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.
This national crisis could be called the second struggle for national independence. (During a speech on 26.8.88 at Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon)
portrait by Htein Lin
