“Weak logic, inconsistencies and alienation from the people are common features of authoritarianism. The relentless attempts of totalitarian regimes to prevent free thought and new ideas and the persistent assertion of their own rightness bring on them an intellectual stasis which they project on to the nation at large. Intimidation and propaganda work in a duet of oppression, while the people, lapped in fear and distrust, learn to dissemble and to keep silent. And all the time the desire grows for a system which will lift them from the position of 'rice-eating robots' to the status of human beings who can think and speak freely and hold their heads high in the security of their rights.”
More from Aung San Suu Kyi
“Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped,…”
“Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through…”
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it…”
“Where there is no justice there can be no secure peace.”