diễn từ nhận giải nobel hòa bình của bà aung san suu kyi

7/30/2019 Din t nhn gii Nobel ha bnh ca b Aung San Suu Kyi

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Din t nhn gii Nobel ha bnh ca b Aung San Suu Kyi

Th nm, 05 Thng 7 2012 00:00 Aung San Suu Kyi

nh :B Aung San Suu Kyi chnh thc pht biu nhn gii Nobel dnh chomnh sau 21 nm -(Reuters )

Cch y rt lu, c khi tng nh trong nhiu kip trc, ti Oxford ngi nghe chngtrnh Desert Island Discs trn i pht thanh vi con trai ti, cu b Alexander. y l mtchng trnh rt ph bin (v hnh nh vn cn tip tc ) phng vn nhng nhn vt ni ting mi thnh phn v nhng g h s chn nu c mang theo n mt hoang o 8 a ht, mtquyn sch ngoi Thnh kinh v ton b tc phm ca Shakespeare, v mt vt xa x. Hai mcon thch th nghe v khi chng trnh chm dt, Alexander hi ti c ngh l ngy no sc mi ln ni Desert Island Discs khng. Ti sao khng?, ti tr li vui. Alexander , vbit l ch c nhng ngi ni ting mi c mi ln tham d, nn tht tnh hi ti ngh l cmi vi l do g. Ngm ngh mt lc, ti tr li : C th v m c gii Nobel vn chng v

hai m con cng bt ci. Vin tng y p tht y nhng cng rt xa vi.

(Ti khng nh ti sao tr li nh th, c l v lc y va c mt quyn sch ca mt tc giot gii Nobel, hay v nhn vt pht biu trn chng trnh Desert Island hm y l mt nh vnni ting.)
http://khoavanhoc-ngonngu.edu.vn/home/index.php?view=article&catid=100:vn-hoa-lch-s-trit-hc&id=3282:din-t-nhn-gii-nobel-hoa-binh-ca-ba-aung-san-suu-kyi&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=161&lang=vihttp://khoavanhoc-ngonngu.edu.vn/home/index.php?option=com_mailto&tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL2tob2F2YW5ob2Mtbmdvbm5ndS5lZHUudm4vaG9tZS9pbmRleC5waHA/b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9jb250ZW50JnZpZXc9YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD0zMjgyJTNBZGluLXQtbmhuLWdpaS1ub2JlbC1ob2EtYmluaC1jYS1iYS1hdW5nLXNhbi1zdXUta3lpJmNhdGlkPTEwMCUzQXZuLWhvYS1sY2gtcy10cml0LWhjJkl0ZW1pZD0xNjEmbGFuZz12aQ==&lang=vihttp://khoavanhoc-ngonngu.edu.vn/home/index.php?view=article&catid=100:vn-hoa-lch-s-trit-hc&id=3282:din-t-nhn-gii-nobel-hoa-binh-ca-ba-aung-san-suu-kyi&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=161&lang=vihttp://khoavanhoc-ngonngu.edu.vn/home/index.php?option=com_mailto&tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL2tob2F2YW5ob2Mtbmdvbm5ndS5lZHUudm4vaG9tZS9pbmRleC5waHA/b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9jb250ZW50JnZpZXc9YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD0zMjgyJTNBZGluLXQtbmhuLWdpaS1ub2JlbC1ob2EtYmluaC1jYS1iYS1hdW5nLXNhbi1zdXUta3lpJmNhdGlkPTEwMCUzQXZuLWhvYS1sY2gtcy10cml0LWhjJkl0ZW1pZD0xNjEmbGFuZz12aQ==&lang=vihttp://khoavanhoc-ngonngu.edu.vn/home/index.php?view=article&catid=100:vn-hoa-lch-s-trit-hc&id=3282:din-t-nhn-gii-nobel-hoa-binh-ca-ba-aung-san-suu-kyi&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=161&lang=vihttp://khoavanhoc-ngonngu.edu.vn/home/index.php?option=com_mailto&tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL2tob2F2YW5ob2Mtbmdvbm5ndS5lZHUudm4vaG9tZS9pbmRleC5waHA/b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9jb250ZW50JnZpZXc9YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD0zMjgyJTNBZGluLXQtbmhuLWdpaS1ub2JlbC1ob2EtYmluaC1jYS1iYS1hdW5nLXNhbi1zdXUta3lpJmNhdGlkPTEwMCUzQXZuLWhvYS1sY2gtcy10cml0LWhjJkl0ZW1pZD0xNjEmbGFuZz12aQ==&lang=vi


2/24

Nm 1989, khi ngi chng qu c ca ti, Michael Aris, n thm lc ti b qun thc lnu, anh bo ti l John Finnis, mt ngi bn, c ti cho gii Nobel ho bnh. Ti cngbt ci. Thot tin Michael c v ngc nhin v anh hiu ra ngay ti sao ti ci.

Gii Nobel ho bnh ? Vin tng p tht y nhng hu nh bt kh ! Th th ti cm

thy g khi tht s c trao gii Nobel ho bnh ? Cu hi y ti c nghe nhiu ln v yqu l dp hay nht suy ngh v ngha ca gii Nobel ho bnh i vi ti v ngha ca hobnh i vi ti.

Nh ti nhiu ln tr li phng vn, tin c gii Nobel ho bnh n vi ti qua i phtthanh mt bui ti. Khng hn l bt ng v ti c nhc nh n nh mt trong nhngngi c nhiu kh nng c gii trong nhiu bui pht thanh t tun trc. Khi vit bi din tny, ti rt c gng nh li phn ng u tin ca mnh khi nghe tin. Hnh nh l, ti khngchc lm : , ho ra l h chn mnh tht. Khng bit l thc hay l m v lc y ti cng m

h v hin thc ca chnh bn thn.

Trong nhng thng ngy b qun thc, ti nhiu khi cm thy mnh khng cn thuc v th giithc. y cn nh, th gii cati, v y th gii ca nhng ngi khc cng khng c t donhng sng chung trong nh t nh mt cng ng. V kia l th gii ca nhng ngi t do,mi th gii l mt hnh tinh theo ui qu o ring ca mnh trong

mt v tr dng dng. Gii Nobel ho bnh a ti tr li th gii ca nhng con ngi khc,ngoi khu vc cch bit ti sng, cho ti c li nhn thc ca hin thc. Tt nhin iu ny

khng xy ra ngay lc y nhng vi thi gian v cc phn ng v quyt nh trao gii n quacc knh truyn thng, ti dn dn hiu ngha ca gii Nobel. N cho ti tr li thnh conngi thc, a ti vo tr li cng ng ln ca nhn loi. V quan trng hn na, giiNobel lm th gii ch n cuc tranh u cho dn ch v nhn quyn Min in. Chngti s khng b b qun.

B b qun. Ngi Php ni ra i l cht mt phn. B b qun cng l cht mt phn. L mt imt phn nhng g gn cht chng ta vi ng loi. Khi ti gp nhng ngi Min t nn v laong di tr trongchuyn i thm Thi Lan gn y, nhiu ngi ku to :Xin ng qun chng

ti !. H mun ni : ng qun ni c cc ca chng ti, ng

qun lm nhng g c th lm c gip chng ti, ng qun l chng ti cng thuc v thgii ca mi ngi. Khi U ban gii Nobel trao gii ho bnh cho ti, h xc nhn nhngngi b km kp v phong to Min in cng l mt phn ca th gii, h xc nhn hnloi l mt. Cho nn, i vi ti, nhn gii Nobel ho bnh l t mnh ni rng nhng kht vng dn ch v nhn quyn ca mnh ra ngoi bin gii lnh th. Gii Nobel ho bnh m rngmt cnh ca trong tri tim ti.


3/24

C th gii thch ho bnh trong quan nim ngi Min l hnh phc t c khi khng cnnhng nhn t chng i s hi ho v trong lnh.

T ng nyein-chan c ngha nm na l cn mt du an lnh sau khi la tt. La ca kh au vxung t ang honh hnh trn th gii. Trong nc ti, s th ch vn tip din vng Bc,bo lon cng ng vng Ty dn n t nh, chm gitch vi hm trc khi ti ln ngn y. Tin tc v nhng s kin tn c nhan nhn t nhng ni khc trn tri t. Nhng bntin v i km, bnh tt, di tn, tht nghip, ngho tng, bt cng, k th, nh kin, cung tnn vi chng ta nh cm ba. y ry khp ni l nhng th lc tiu cc gm nhm nn tngca ho bnh. Hin nhin khp ni l s lng ph v thc nhng ti nguyn vt cht v nhn lccn thit gi gn s hi ho v hnh phc trong th gii ca chng ta.

nht th chin l mt s ph phm kinh hong tui tr v tim lc, mt s phung ph caynghit nhng th lc tch cc ca tri t chng ta. Th ca ca thi k y c ngha su sc ivi ti v ti c chng ln u tui ca nhng ngi thanh nin phi i mt vi vin tngva chm n th ho tn. Mt ngi lnh M tr trong qun i L dng Php vit trc khicht trn nm 1916 l anh ta s gp t thn mt chin tuyn gay go no , trn con dcloang l ca mt ngn i b bm dp, vo na m trong mt thnh ph rc la. Tui tr,tnh yu v cuc sng vnh vin tiu tn trong nhng n lc phi l ginh chim nhng nichn khng tn v khng i vo k c. V

lm g ? Gn mt th k sau, chng ta vn cha tm c cu tr li tho ng.

Tuy mt cch t hung bo hn, chng ta phi chng vn mang ti coi thng v khinh sut tnglai chng ta v nhn loi ? Chin tranh khng phi l lnh vc duy nht ho bnh b bp cht. ni no s kh au khng c ghi nhn, ni c mm mng ca xung t v s kh au gy nhc, gieo rc cay ng v nung nu la gin.

Sng trong cch ly cng c mt tch cc l ti c d th gi suy ngm v ngha ca cu chv nhng chm ngn ti c hc v chp nhn trong c cuc i. L Pht t, t khi cn b ti c nghe ni n duhkha, thng c dch l kh no. Gn nh mi ngy, ti nghequanh ti nhng ngi ln tui, v c khi c nhng ngi cha gi l gi, lm bm dukha,

dukha khi h au nhc hay bc mnh v mt chuyn v vn no . Song ch trong nhng nmthng b qun thc ti mi tht s nghin cu bn cht ca su ni kh chnh: sinh, lo, bnh, t,phi sng xa ngi thn yu, buc phi sng chung ng vi ngi mnh khng a thch. Tisuy ngh v tng ni kh, khng trong bi cnh tn gio m trong cuc sng thng, hng ngy.Nu kh au l mt phn khng th trnh ca cuc i, chng ta phi c gim nh cng nhiucng tt bng nhng cch thc tin v trn tc. Ti ngm ngh v hiu qu ca nhng chngtrnh bo v b m v tr em, trc v sau khi sinh; v nhng c cu thch ng cho ngi gi;v cc dch v y t ton vn; v s chm lo tn tu cho nhng ngi bnh tt, gi yu.


4/24

Ti c bit thc mc v hai ni kh cui: phi sng xa ngi thn v sng gn ngi dng. cPht phi tri nghim nhng g trong chnh cuc i ca ngi a hai trng thi ny vodanh sch nhng ni kh ln ? Ti ngh n nhng k b t y v nhng ngi t nn, nhngngi lao ng xa x v nhng nn nhn ca nn bun ngi, n hng h v s nhng ngilu lc trn tri t, b bng ra khi qu hng lng mc, bit ly gia nh bn b, bt buc phi

sng c cuc i gia nhng ngi xa l khng phi ai cng cho n h.

Chng ta may mn sng trong mt thi k m phc li x hi v gip nhn o c cngnhn nh mt vic khng ch nn lm m cn phi lm. Ti may mn sng trong mt thi k ms phn ca nhng t nhn lng tm bt c u tr thnh mi quan tm ca mi ngi khp ni, dn ch v nhn quyn c chp nhn rng ri, d khng phi trong mi nc, nhquyn mi ngi u c t khi sinh ra. Bit bao ln trong nhng nm thng b qun thc ti tng vin qua nhng on tm c nht ca li ni u Bn Tuyn ngn quc t nhn quyn:

. Hnh vi xem thng v ch p nhnquyn dn n nhng hnh ng man r, xc phmlng tm nhn loi. Vic tin n mt th gii trong tt c mi ngi c hng t dongn lun, t do tn ngng, khng cn s hi v ngho kh, c tuyn xng l c vng caonht ca con ngi.

. Nhn quyn nht thit phi c bo v bng lut php, con ngi khng b bt buc phidng n bin php cui cng l vng dy chng li c ti v p bc

Nu ai hi ti ti sao ti u tranh cho nhn quyn Min in, nhng on trn l cu tr li.Nu ai hi ti ti sao ti u tranh cho dn ch Min in, l do l v ti tin rng nhng thch v thc tin dn ch cn thit m bo nhn quyn.

Trong nm qua, c nhng du hiu cho thy cc c gng ca nhng ngi tin vo dn ch vnhn quyn bt u c kt qu. c nhng thay i trong chiu hng tch cc; c nhng

bc tin ti dn ch ho.

Nu ti ch trng lc quan mt cch thn trng, khng phi l v ti khng tin tng lai m lv ti khng mun khuyn khch mt s tin tng m qung. Nu khng tin tng lai, khngtin chc rng nhng gi tr dn ch v quyn c bn ca con ngi khng nhng cn thit mcn kh thi cho x hi chng ti, phong tro ca chng ti khng th tn ti trong sut nhngnm thng b truy dit y. C ngi ng xung v tr tranh u, c ngi b hng ng,nhng mt thnh phn nng ct vn vng vng kin quyt . Khi hi tng v nhng nm qua,


5/24

ti sng st trc s ng o nhng ngi vn kin tr trong nhng lc gian kh nht. H tintng vo chnh ngha vi mt nim tin khng m qung m da vo mt nh gi sng sut :h bit sc chu ng ca chnh mnh, h ht sc knh phc nhng kht vng ca nhn dn ngbo.

Ti c mt vi qu v ngy hm nay l nh nhng thay i gn y trong nc ti, v nhng thayi y c th xy ra l nh qu v v nhng ngi yu ho bnh v cng l khc gp phnlm th gii nhn thc tnh hnh ca chng ti. Trc khi ni tip v Min in, ti xin phpc ni cho nhng t nhn lng tm ca chng ti. Vn cn c nhng t nhn y Minin. iu ng lo l sau khi nhng t nhn ni ting nht c tr t do, nhng ngi khc,khng ai bit tn tui, s b b qun. Ti ng y v ti tng l mt t nhn lng tm.

Khi qu v nhn v nghe ti y, ti xin qu v nh n cu ni rt ng v vn thng nghe ny:ch mt t nhn lng tm thi cng l qu nhiu. Nhng ngi cha c tr t do, cha

c hng cng l nc ti ng hn con s mt nhiu lm. Ti mong qu v nh n h vlm tt c nhng g c th lm h c th trong thi hn nhanh nht v v iu kin.

Min in l nc tp hp nhiu sc tc v nim tin vo tng lai ch c th da vo mt tinhthn on kt tht s. T khi chng ti dnh c c lp nm1948, cha c lc no chng tic th ni c nc c ho bnh. Chng ti khng xy dng c s tin cy v cm thngcn thit xo b cc nguyn nhn xung t. Nhng tho thun ngng bn p dng t u thpnin 1990 cho n 2010 em li hi vng nhng sp ch trong vi thng. Ch mt hnh ngthiu suy ngh l chm dt mt thi gian di ngng bn. Trong nhng thng qua, thng

thuyt gia chnh quyn v cc lc lng sc tc c tin b. Chng ti hi vng cc tho thunngng bn sdn n gii php chnh tr da trn c vng ca dn chng v tinh thn on kt.

ng Lin minh quc gia cho dn ch ca chng ti v bn thn ti sn sng ng mi vai trtrong cng cuc ho gii dn tc. Nhng bin php ci cch c ni cc ca Tng thng UThein Sein a vo p dng ch c th gi vng c vi s hp tc thng minh ca tt c mith lc trong nc: qun i, cc sc tc, cc ng phi, cc phng tin truyn thng, cc onth ca x hi dn s, gii kinh doanh v nht l cng chng. C th ni ci cch ch c hiu qukhi i sng ngi dn c nng cao v y cng ng quc t ng vai tr then cht.

Cc vin tr pht trin v gip nhn o, cc hip c song phng v lung u t cn phic phi hp v iu chnh m bo mt s pht trin x hi, chnh tr v kinh t cn bngv bn vng. Tim nng ca t nc chng ti rt to ln. N phi c nui dng v pht huy to mt x hi khng nhng phn thnh hn m cn hi ho v dn ch hn trong nhndn chng ti c th sng ho bnh, an ton v t do.


6/24

Ho bnh trong th gii chng ta l mt tng th khng th chia ct.

Ngy no cc th lc tiu cc cn thng th cc th lc tch cc bt c u, tt c chng ta ub e do. C th e rng ch bao gi c th tr dit tt c mi th lc tiu cc. Cu tr li ngin l : Khng!. Bn cht ca con ngi l c c tiu cc ln tch cc. Song con ngi cng

c kh nng cng c tch cc v gim thiu hoc v hiu ho tiu cc. Ho bnh tuyt i trongth giichng ta l mc tiu khng th t c. Nhng y l mt mc tiu chng ta phi tiptc eo ui, khng lc no ri mt nh ngi i trong sa mc di theo ngi sao dn dt mnhn ni an ton. D chng ta khng thc hin c ho bnh vn ton trn tri t ny, nhng nlc chung tin n ho bnh s gn b cc c nhn v quc gia trong tinh thn tin cy v hungh, gip cng ng nhn loi ca chng ta tr thnh mt ni an ton v nhn i hn.

Ti dng ch nhn i sau khi cn nhc k, c th ni sau nhiu nm cn nhc k. Trongnhng ci may ca cn hon nn, v xin ni ngay chng khng nhiu u, ci may nht, qu gi

nht i vi ti l bi hc rt ra v gi tr ca s nhn i. Mi ngha c nhn i ti nhn c,ln hay nh, thuyt phc ti l s nhn i d nhiu bao nhiu cng vn khng trong thgii ca chng ta. Nhn i l p li vi nhy cm v tnh ngi nhng kht vng v nhu cu cangi khc. Mt thong nhn i thi cng lm nh bt mt tm hn u ut. Nhn i c th lm ii. Na Uy l tm gng sng ca s nhn i, cho ngi lu vong c li mi nh, cho ngib tc quyn sng yn n v t do ti qu hng h c ni n nu.

Ngi t nn c mt khp mi trn th gii. Khi ti n tri t nn Maela Thi Lan va qua, tigp nhng ngi tn tu hng ngy tm cch gip cuc sng ngi trong tri bt kh khn vt

v. H lo lng v hin tng mnh thng qun nn lng, cng c th gi l hin tng nnlng trc n. Mnh thng qun nn lng th hin c th qua sgim st cc lung ti tr.Nn lng trc n, kh thy hn, lm gim st s quan tm. Ci ny l hu qu ca ci kia.Chng ta c th no t cho php nn lng trc n? p ng nhu cu ca nhng ngi t nn ctn km hn ci gi s phi tr nu th , thm ch ngonh mt lm ng trc kh au ca h ?Ti ku gi cc mnh thng qun mi nc hy p ng nhu cu ca nhng ngi i tm, ckhi v vng, mt chn nng thn.

Ti Maela, ti c nhng trao i rt b ch vi nhng vin chc Thi trch nhim qun l tnhTak ni c tri ny v nhiu tri khc. H cho ti bit mt s vn ln nht ca cc tri t nn:vi phm lut bo v rng, s dng ma tu tri php, nu ru lu, nhng kh khn trong vic bitr cc bnh st rt, lao, st xut huyt v th t. Nhng quan ngi ca c quan qun l cngchnh ng nh nhng quan ngi ca ngi t nn. Nhng nc n nhn ngi t nn cng phic coi trng v gip c th khc phc nhng kh khn gn lin vi trch nhim ca h.


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Ni cho cng, mcch ca chng ta l to ra mt th gii khng cn ngi lu vong, v gia cv v vng, mt th gii trong mi mnh t tht s l ni n nu cho php tt c sng trongt do v ho bnh. Mi ngh, mi cu ni, mi hnh ng lm tng ln s tch cc v trong lnhu ng gp cho ho bnh. Mi ngi trong chng ta u c th c nhng ng gp y. Chngta hy ni tay nhau chung sc to mt th gii ho bnh trong chng ta c th an nhin i vo

gic ng v thc dy trong hnh phc.

U ban Nobel kt lun bn thng co ngy 14.10.1991 bng cu : Trao gii Nobel hobnh cho Aung San Suu Kyi, U ban Nobel Na uy c dng vinh danh nhng n lc bn bca ngi ph n ny v by t s ng h i vi nhng dn tc ang u tranh trong nhiu nitrn th gii cho dn ch, nhn quyn v ho gii dn tc bng nhng phng tin ho bnh.Khi ti gia nhp phong tro dn ch Min in, ti khng h ngh ngy no s c traogii thng hay vinh d g. Gii thng chng ti mong c c l mt x hi t do, yn n vcng bng trong ng bo chng ti c th pht huy tt c mi tim nng. S vinh d nm

trong n lc y. Lch s cho chng ti c hi cng hin mi sc lc cho chnh ngha mchng ti tin tng. Khi U ban Nobel chn vinh danh ti, ti bt c n i tip trn conng mnh t nguyn chn. V th ti t n U ban, nhn dn Na uy v nhn dn mi nc,s h tr y cng c nim tin ca ti vo s phn u chung cho ho bnh. Xin c cm t.

Nguyn bn ting Anh:"Aung San Suu Kyi - Nobel Lecture" Nobelprize.org

Bn ting Vit : Tuyt Khanh

Ngun: http://sgtt.vn/Quoc-te/165712/Dien-tu-nhan-giai-Nobel-hoa-binh-cua-ba-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi.html

Nobel Lecture

Nobel Lecture by Aung San Suu Kyi, Oslo, 16 June, 2012

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Distinguished members of the Norwegian

Nobel Committee, Dear Friends,

Long years ago, sometimes it seems many lives ago, I was at Oxford listening to the radio

programme Desert Island Discs with my young son Alexander. It was a well-known programme

(for all I know it still continues) on which famous people from all walks of life were invited to

talk about the eight discs, the one book beside the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare,and the one luxury item they would wish to have with them were they to be marooned on a

desert island. At the end of the programme, which we had both enjoyed, Alexander asked me if I

thought I might ever be invited to speak on Desert Island Discs. Why not? I responded lightly.Since he knew that in general only celebrities took part in the programme he proceeded to ask,

with genuine interest, for what reason I thought I might be invited. I considered this for a

moment and then answered: Perhaps because Id have won the Nobel Prize for literature, andwe both laughed. The prospect seemed pleasant but hardly probable.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-lecture_en.htmlhttp://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-lecture_en.htmlhttp://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-lecture_en.htmlhttp://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-lecture_en.html


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(I cannot now remember why I gave that answer, perhaps because I had recently read a book by

a Nobel Laureate or perhaps because the Desert Island celebrity of that day had been a famouswriter.)

In 1989, when my late husband Michael Aris came to see me during my first term of house

arrest, he told me that a friend, John Finnis, had nominated me for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thistime also I laughed. For an instant Michael looked amazed, then he realized why I was amused.

The Nobel Peace Prize? A pleasant prospect, but quite improbable! So how did I feel when I wasactually awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace? The question has been put to me many times and

this is surely the most appropriate occasion on which to examine what the Nobel Prize means to

me and what peace means to me.

As I have said repeatedly in many an interview, I heard the news that I had been awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize on the radio one evening. It did not altogether come as a surprise because I

had been mentioned as one of the frontrunners for the prize in a number of broadcasts during theprevious week. While drafting this lecture, I have tried very hard to remember what my

immediate reaction to the announcement of the award had been. I think, I can no longer be sure,it was something like: Oh, so theyve decided to give it to me. It did not seem quite realbecause in a sense I did not feel myself to be quite real at that time.

Often during my days of house arrest it felt as though I were no longer a part of the real world.There was the house which was my world, there was the world of others who also were not free

but who were together in prison as a community, and there was the world of the free; each was a

different planet pursuing its own separate course in an indifferent universe. What the NobelPeace Prize did was to draw me once again into the world of other human beings outside the

isolated area in which I lived, to restore a sense of reality to me. This did not happen instantly, of

course, but as the days and months went by and news of reactions to the award came over the

airwaves, I began to understand the significance of the Nobel Prize. It had made me real onceagain; it had drawn me back into the wider human community. And what was more important,

the Nobel Prize had drawn the attention of the world to the struggle for democracy and human

rights in Burma. We were not going to be forgotten.

To be forgotten. The French say that to part is to die a little. To be forgotten too is to die a little.

It is to lose some of the links that anchor us to the rest of humanity. When I met Burmesemigrant workers and refugees during my recent visit to Thailand, many cried out: Dont forgetus! They meant: dont forget our plight, dont forget to do what you can to help us, dontforget we also belong to your world. When the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize tome they were recognizing that the oppressed and the isolated in Burma were also a part of theworld, they were recognizing the oneness of humanity. So for me receiving the Nobel Peace

Prize means personally extending my concerns for democracy and human rights beyond national

borders. The Nobel Peace Prize opened up a door in my heart.

The Burmese concept of peace can be explained as the happiness arising from the cessation of

factors that militate against the harmonious and the wholesome. The word nyein-chan translatesliterally as the beneficial coolness that comes when a fire is extinguished. Fires of suffering and

strife are raging around the world. In my own country, hostilities have not ceased in the far


9/24

north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just

several days before I started out on the journey that has brought me here today. News ofatrocities in other reaches of the earth abound. Reports of hunger, disease, displacement,

joblessness, poverty, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry; these are our daily fare.

Everywhere there are negative forces eating away at the foundations of peace. Everywhere can

be found thoughtless dissipation of material and human resources that are necessary for theconservation of harmony and happiness in our world.

The First World War represented a terrifying waste of youth and potential, a cruel squandering of

the positive forces of our planet. The poetry of that era has a special significance for me because

I first read it at a time when I was the same age as many of those young men who had to face theprospect of withering before they had barely blossomed. A young American fighting with the

French Foreign Legion wrote before he was killed in action in 1916 that he would meet his

death: at some disputed barricade; on some scarred slope of battered hill; at midnight insome flaming town. Youth and love and life perishing forever in senseless attempts to capturenameless, unremembered places. And for what? Nearly a century on, we have yet to find a

satisfactory answer.

Are we not still guilty, if to a less violent degree, of recklessness, of improvidence with regard to

our future and our humanity? War is not the only arena where peace is done to death. Wherever

suffering is ignored, there will be the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters andenrages.

A positive aspect of living in isolation was that I had ample time in which to ruminate over themeaning of words and precepts that I had known and accepted all my life. As a Buddhist, I had

heard about dukha, generally translated as suffering, since I was a small child. Almost on a daily

basis elderly, and sometimes not so elderly, people around me would murmur dukha, dukha

when they suffered from aches and pains or when they met with some small, annoying mishaps.However, it was only during my years of house arrest that I got around to investigating the nature

of the six great dukha. These are: to be conceived, to age, to sicken, to die, to be parted from

those one loves, to be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love. I examined eachof the six great sufferings, not in a religious context but in the context of our ordinary, everyday

lives. If suffering were an unavoidable part of our existence, we should try to alleviate it as far as

possible in practical, earthly ways. I mulled over the effectiveness of ante- and post-natalprogrammes and mother and childcare; of adequate facilities for the aging population; of

comprehensive health services; of compassionate nursing and hospices. I was particularly

intrigued by the last two kinds of suffering: to be parted from those one loves and to be forced to

live in propinquity with those one does not love. What experiences might our Lord Buddha haveundergone in his own life that he had included these two states among the great sufferings? I

thought of prisoners and refugees, of migrant workers and victims of human trafficking, of that

great mass of the uprooted of the earth who have been torn away from their homes, parted from

families and friends, forced to live out their lives among strangers who are not alwayswelcoming.

We are fortunate to be living in an age when social welfare and humanitarian assistance arerecognized not only as desirable but necessary. I am fortunate to be living in an age when the


10/24

fate of prisoners of conscience anywhere has become the concern of peoples everywhere, an age

when democracy and human rights are widely, even if not universally, accepted as the birthrightof all. How often during my years under house arrest have I drawn strength from my favourite

passages in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

. disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which haveoutraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shallenjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as thehighest aspirations of the common people,

it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellionagainst tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law . . .

If I am asked why I am fighting for human rights in Burma the above passages will provide theanswer. If I am asked why I am fighting for democracy in Burma, it is because I believe that

democratic institutions and practices are necessary for the guarantee of human rights.

Over the past year there have been signs that the endeavours of those who believe in democracy

and human rights are beginning to bear fruit in Burma. There have been changes in a positive

direction; steps towards democratization have been taken. If I advocate cautious optimism it isnot because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith.

Without faith in the future, without the conviction that democratic values and fundamentalhuman rights are not only necessary but possible for our society, our movement could not have

been sustained throughout the destroying years. Some of our warriors fell at their post, somedeserted us, but a dedicated core remained strong and committed. At times when I think of the

years that have passed, I am amazed that so many remained staunch under the most trying

circumstances. Their faith in our cause is not blind; it is based on a clear-eyed assessment of their

own powers of endurance and a profound respect for the aspirations of our people.

It is because of recent changes in my country that I am with you today; and these changes havecome about because of you and other lovers of freedom and justice who contributed towards a

global awareness of our situation. Before continuing to speak of my country, may I speak out for

our prisoners of conscience. There still remain such prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared thatbecause the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be

forgotten. I am standing here because I was once a prisoner of conscience. As you look at me and

listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one toomany. Those who have not yet been freed, those who have not yet been given access to the

benefits of justice in my country number much more than one. Please remember them and do

whatever is possible to effect their earliest, unconditional release.

Burma is a country of many ethnic nationalities and faith in its future can be founded only on a

true spirit of union. Since we achieved independence in 1948, there never has been a time when

we could claim the whole country was at peace. We have not been able to develop the trust andunderstanding necessary to remove causes of conflict. Hopes were raised by ceasefires that were

maintained from the early 1990s until 2010 when these broke down over the course of a few

months. One unconsidered move can be enough to remove long-standing ceasefires. In recent


11/24

months, negotiations between the government and ethnic nationality forces have been making

progress. We hope that ceasefire agreements will lead to political settlements founded on theaspirations of the peoples, and the spirit of union.

My party, the National League for Democracy, and I stand ready and willing to play any role in

the process of national reconciliation. The reform measures that were put into motion byPresident U Thein Seins government can be sustained only with the intelligent cooperation of allinternal forces: the military, our ethnic nationalities, political parties, the media, civil societyorganizations, the business community and, most important of all, the general public. We can say

that reform is effective only if the lives of the people are improved and in this regard, the

international community has a vital role to play. Development and humanitarian aid, bi-lateralagreements and investments should be coordinated and calibrated to ensure that these will

promote social, political and economic growth that is balanced and sustainable. The potential of

our country is enormous. This should be nurtured and developed to create not just a more

prosperous but also a more harmonious, democratic society where our people can live in peace,security and freedom.

The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positiveforces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether all negative forces could ever

be removed. The simple answer is: No! It is in human nature to contain both the positive andthe negative. However, it is also within human capability to work to reinforce the positive and tominimize or neutralize the negative. Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal. But it is

one towards which we must continue to journey, our eyes fixed on it as a traveller in a desert

fixes his eyes on the one guiding star that will lead him to salvation. Even if we do not achieve

perfect peace on earth, because perfect peace is not of this earth, common endeavours to gainpeace will unite individuals and nations in trust and friendship and help to make our human

community safer and kinder.

I used the word kinder after careful deliberation; I might say the careful deliberation of manyyears. Of the sweets of adversity, and let me say that these are not numerous, I have found the

sweetest, the most precious of all, is the lesson I learnt on the value of kindness. Every kindness Ireceived, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world. To be

kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the

briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people.Norway has shown exemplary kindness in providing a home for the displaced of the earth,

offering sanctuary to those who have been cut loose from the moorings of security and freedom

in their native lands.

There are refugees in all parts of the world. When I was at the Maela refugee camp in Thailand

recently, I met dedicated people who were striving daily to make the lives of the inmates as free

from hardship as possible. They spoke of their concern over donor fatigue, which could alsotranslate as compassion fatigue. Donor fatigue expresses itself precisely in the reduction offunding. Compassion fatigue expresses itself less obviously in the reduction of concern. One isthe consequence of the other. Can we afford to indulge in compassion fatigue? Is the cost of

meeting the needs of refugees greater than the cost that would be consequent on turning an


12/24

indifferent, if not a blind, eye on their suffering? I appeal to donors the world over to fulfill the

needs of these people who are in search, often it must seem to them a vain search, of refuge.

At Maela, I had valuable discussions with Thai officials responsible for the administration of Tak

province where this and several other camps are situated. They acquainted me with some of the

more serious problems related to refugee camps: violation of forestry laws, illegal drug use,home brewed spirits, the problems of controlling malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever and cholera.

The concerns of the administration are as legitimate as the concerns of the refugees. Hostcountries also deserve consideration and practical help in coping with the difficulties related to

their responsibilities.

Ultimately our aim should be to create a world free from the displaced, the homeless and the

hopeless, a world of which each and every corner is a true sanctuary where the inhabitants will

have the freedom and the capacity to live in peace. Every thought, every word, and every action

that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of usis capable of making such a contribution. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world

where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.

The Nobel Committee concluded its statement of 14 October 1991 with the words: In awardingthe Nobel Peace Prize ... to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to

honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many peoplethroughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation

by peaceful means. When I joined the democracy movement in Burma it never occurred to methat I might ever be the recipient of any prize or honour. The prize we were working for was afree, secure and just society where our people might be able to realize their full potential. The

honour lay in our endeavour. History had given us the opportunity to give of our best for a cause

in which we believed. When the Nobel Committee chose to honour me, the road I had chosen of

my own free will became a less lonely path to follow. For this I thank the Committee, the peopleof Norway and peoples all over the world whose support has strengthened my faith in the

common quest for peace. Thank you.

1. rdric Passy2. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1902

lie DucommunAlbert Gobat

3. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1903Randal Cremer

4. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1904Institute of International Law

5. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1905Bertha von Suttner

6. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1906Theodore Roosevelt

7. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1907Louis RenaultErnesto Teodoro Moneta

8. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1908

1991
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1992/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1990/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1992/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1990/


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Klas Pontus ArnoldsonFredrik Bajer

9. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 1909Auguste BeernaertPaul Henri d'Estournelles de Constant

10.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1910Permanent International Peace Bureau

11.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1911Alfred FriedTobias Asser

12.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1912Elihu Root

13.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1913Henri La Fontaine

14.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1914No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money wasallocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.



17.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1917International Committee of the Red Cross


19.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1919Woodrow Wilson

20.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1920Lon Bourgeois

21.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1921Christian LangeHjalmar Branting

22.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1922Fridtjof Nansen



25.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1925Charles G. DawesSir Austen Chamberlain

26.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1926Gustav Stresemann


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Aristide Briand27.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1927

Ludwig QuiddeFerdinand Buisson


29.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1929Frank B. Kellogg

30.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1930Nathan Sderblom

31.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1931Nicholas Murray ButlerJane Addams


33.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1933Sir Norman Angell

34.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1934Arthur Henderson

35.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1935Carl von Ossietzky

36.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1936Carlos Saavedra Lamas

37.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1937Robert Cecil

38.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1938Nansen International Office for Refugees39.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1939No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money waswith 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to theSpecial Fund of this prize section.

40.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1940No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money waswith 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to theSpecial Fund of this prize section.

41.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1941No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money waswith 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the

Special Fund of this prize section.42.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1942

No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money waswith 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to theSpecial Fund of this prize section.

43.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1943No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money waswith 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the


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Special Fund of this prize section.44.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1944

International Committee of the Red Cross45.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1945

Cordell Hull46.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1946

John R. MottEmily Greene Balch

47.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1947American Friends Service CommitteeFriends Service Council


49.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1949Lord Boyd Orr

50.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1950Ralph Bunche

51.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1951Lon Jouhaux

52.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1952Albert Schweitzer

53.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1953George C. Marshall

54.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1954Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees



57.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1957Lester Bowles Pearson

58.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1958Georges Pire

59.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1959Philip Noel-Baker

60.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1960Albert Lutuli

61.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1961Dag Hammarskjld

62.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1962Linus Pauling

63.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1963International Committee of the Red Cross


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League of Red Cross Societies64.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1964

Martin Luther King Jr.65.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1965

United Nations Children's Fund66.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1966

No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money wasallocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.


68.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1968Ren Cassin

69.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1969International Labour Organization

70.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1970Norman Borlaug

71.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1971Willy Brandt

72.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1972No Nobel Prize was awarded this year. The prize money for1972 was allocated to the Main Fund.

73.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1973Le Duc ThoHenry Kissinger

74.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1974Eisaku Sato

Sen MacBride75.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1975Andrei Sakharov

76.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1976Mairead CorriganBetty Williams

77.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1977Amnesty International

78.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1978Anwar al-SadatMenachem Begin

79.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1979Mother Teresa

80.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1980Adolfo Prez Esquivel

81.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1981Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

82.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1982Alva MyrdalAlfonso Garca Robles


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83.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1983Lech Walesa

84.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1984Desmond Tutu

85.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1985International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

86.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1986Elie Wiesel

87.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1987Oscar Arias Snchez

88.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1988United Nations Peacekeeping Forces

89.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1989The 14th Dalai Lama

90.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1990Mikhail Gorbachev

91.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1991Aung San Suu Kyi

92.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1992Rigoberta Mench Tum

93.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1993F.W. de KlerkNelson Mandela

94.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1994Shimon PeresYitzhak RabinYasser Arafat

95.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1995Joseph RotblatPugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

96.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1996Carlos Filipe Ximenes BeloJos Ramos-Horta

97.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1997Jody WilliamsInternational Campaign to Ban Landmines

98.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1998David TrimbleJohn Hume

99.###The Nobel Peace Prize 1999Mdecins Sans Frontires

100. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2000Kim Dae-jung

101. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2001United NationsKofi Annan

102. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2002Jimmy Carter


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103. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2003Shirin Ebadi

104. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2004Wangari Maathai

105. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2005International Atomic Energy AgencyMohamed ElBaradei

106. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2006Muhammad Yunus

107. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2007Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeAl Gore

108. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2008Martti Ahtisaari

109. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2009Barack H. Obama

110. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2010Liu Xiaobo

111. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2011Ellen Johnson SirleafLeymah GboweeTawakkol Karman

112. ###The Nobel Peace Prize 2012European Union (EU)

Prize category:

The Nobel Peace Prize 1991

Aung San Suu Kyi

The Nobel Peace Prize 1991

Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony

Aung San Suu Kyi

English

Norwegian

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Nobel Lecture

Nobel Lecture by Aung San Suu Kyi, Oslo, 16 June, 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi delivering her Nobel Lecture in the Oslo City Hall, 16 June, 2012.

Copyright The Nobel Foundation 2012

Photo: Ken Opprann

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Distinguished members of the Norwegian

Nobel Committee, Dear Friends,

Long years ago, sometimes it seems many lives ago, I was at Oxford listening to the radio

programme Desert Island Discs with my young son Alexander. It was a well-known programme

(for all I know it still continues) on which famous people from all walks of life were invited totalk about the eight discs, the one book beside the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare,

and the one luxury item they would wish to have with them were they to be marooned on a

desert island. At the end of the programme, which we had both enjoyed, Alexander asked me if I

thought I might ever be invited to speak on Desert Island Discs. Why not? I responded lightly.Since he knew that in general only celebrities took part in the programme he proceeded to ask,with genuine interest, for what reason I thought I might be invited. I considered this for a

moment and then answered: Perhaps because Id have won the Nobel Prize for literature, andwe both laughed. The prospect seemed pleasant but hardly probable.


20/24

(I cannot now remember why I gave that answer, perhaps because I had recently read a book by

a Nobel Laureate or perhaps because the Desert Island celebrity of that day had been a famouswriter.)

In 1989, when my late husband Michael Aris came to see me during my first term of house

arrest, he told me that a friend, John Finnis, had nominated me for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thistime also I laughed. For an instant Michael looked amazed, then he realized why I was amused.

The Nobel Peace Prize? A pleasant prospect, but quite improbable! So how did I feel when I wasactually awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace? The question has been put to me many times and

this is surely the most appropriate occasion on which to examine what the Nobel Prize means to

me and what peace means to me.

As I have said repeatedly in many an interview, I heard the news that I had been awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize on the radio one evening. It did not altogether come as a surprise because I

had been mentioned as one of the frontrunners for the prize in a number of broadcasts during theprevious week. While drafting this lecture, I have tried very hard to remember what my

immediate reaction to the announcement of the award had been. I think, I can no longer be sure,it was something like: Oh, so theyve decided to give it to me. It did not seem quite realbecause in a sense I did not feel myself to be quite real at that time.

Often during my days of house arrest it felt as though I were no longer a part of the real world.There was the house which was my world, there was the world of others who also were not free

but who were together in prison as a community, and there was the world of the free; each was a

different planet pursuing its own separate course in an indifferent universe. What the NobelPeace Prize did was to draw me once again into the world of other human beings outside the

isolated area in which I lived, to restore a sense of reality to me. This did not happen instantly, of

course, but as the days and months went by and news of reactions to the award came over the

airwaves, I began to understand the significance of the Nobel Prize. It had made me real onceagain; it had drawn me back into the wider human community. And what was more important,

the Nobel Prize had drawn the attention of the world to the struggle for democracy and human

rights in Burma. We were not going to be forgotten.

To be forgotten. The French say that to part is to die a little. To be forgotten too is to die a little.

It is to lose some of the links that anchor us to the rest of humanity. When I met Burmesemigrant workers and refugees during my recent visit to Thailand, many cried out: Dont forgetus! They meant: dont forget our plight, dont forget to do what you can to help us, dontforget we also belong to your world. When the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize tome they were recognizing that the oppressed and the isolated in Burma were also a part of theworld, they were recognizing the oneness of humanity. So for me receiving the Nobel Peace

Prize means personally extending my concerns for democracy and human rights beyond national

borders. The Nobel Peace Prize opened up a door in my heart.

The Burmese concept of peace can be explained as the happiness arising from the cessation of

factors that militate against the harmonious and the wholesome. The word nyein-chan translatesliterally as the beneficial coolness that comes when a fire is extinguished. Fires of suffering and

strife are raging around the world. In my own country, hostilities have not ceased in the far


21/24

north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just

several days before I started out on the journey that has brought me here today. News ofatrocities in other reaches of the earth abound. Reports of hunger, disease, displacement,

joblessness, poverty, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry; these are our daily fare.

Everywhere there are negative forces eating away at the foundations of peace. Everywhere can

be found thoughtless dissipation of material and human resources that are necessary for theconservation of harmony and happiness in our world.

The First World War represented a terrifying waste of youth and potential, a cruel squandering of

the positive forces of our planet. The poetry of that era has a special significance for me because

I first read it at a time when I was the same age as many of those young men who had to face theprospect of withering before they had barely blossomed. A young American fighting with the

French Foreign Legion wrote before he was killed in action in 1916 that he would meet his

death: at some disputed barricade; on some scarred slope of battered hill; at midnight insome flaming town. Youth and love and life perishing forever in senseless attempts to capturenameless, unremembered places. And for what? Nearly a century on, we have yet to find a

satisfactory answer.

Are we not still guilty, if to a less violent degree, of recklessness, of improvidence with regard to

our future and our humanity? War is not the only arena where peace is done to death. Wherever

suffering is ignored, there will be the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters andenrages.

A positive aspect of living in isolation was that I had ample time in which to ruminate over themeaning of words and precepts that I had known and accepted all my life. As a Buddhist, I had

heard about dukha, generally translated as suffering, since I was a small child. Almost on a daily

basis elderly, and sometimes not so elderly, people around me would murmur dukha, dukha

when they suffered from aches and pains or when they met with some small, annoying mishaps.However, it was only during my years of house arrest that I got around to investigating the nature

of the six great dukha. These are: to be conceived, to age, to sicken, to die, to be parted from

those one loves, to be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love. I examined eachof the six great sufferings, not in a religious context but in the context of our ordinary, everyday

lives. If suffering were an unavoidable part of our existence, we should try to alleviate it as far as

possible in practical, earthly ways. I mulled over the effectiveness of ante- and post-natalprogrammes and mother and childcare; of adequate facilities for the aging population; of

comprehensive health services; of compassionate nursing and hospices. I was particularly

intrigued by the last two kinds of suffering: to be parted from those one loves and to be forced to

live in propinquity with those one does not love. What experiences might our Lord Buddha haveundergone in his own life that he had included these two states among the great sufferings? I

thought of prisoners and refugees, of migrant workers and victims of human trafficking, of that

great mass of the uprooted of the earth who have been torn away from their homes, parted from

families and friends, forced to live out their lives among strangers who are not alwayswelcoming.

We are fortunate to be living in an age when social welfare and humanitarian assistance arerecognized not only as desirable but necessary. I am fortunate to be living in an age when the


22/24

fate of prisoners of conscience anywhere has become the concern of peoples everywhere, an age

when democracy and human rights are widely, even if not universally, accepted as the birthrightof all. How often during my years under house arrest have I drawn strength from my favourite

passages in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

. disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which haveoutraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shallenjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as thehighest aspirations of the common people,

it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellionagainst tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law . . .

If I am asked why I am fighting for human rights in Burma the above passages will provide theanswer. If I am asked why I am fighting for democracy in Burma, it is because I believe that

democratic institutions and practices are necessary for the guarantee of human rights.

Over the past year there have been signs that the endeavours of those who believe in democracy

and human rights are beginning to bear fruit in Burma. There have been changes in a positive

direction; steps towards democratization have been taken. If I advocate cautious optimism it isnot because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith.

Without faith in the future, without the conviction that democratic values and fundamentalhuman rights are not only necessary but possible for our society, our movement could not have

been sustained throughout the destroying years. Some of our warriors fell at their post, somedeserted us, but a dedicated core remained strong and committed. At times when I think of the

years that have passed, I am amazed that so many remained staunch under the most trying

circumstances. Their faith in our cause is not blind; it is based on a clear-eyed assessment of their

own powers of endurance and a profound respect for the aspirations of our people.

It is because of recent changes in my country that I am with you today; and these changes havecome about because of you and other lovers of freedom and justice who contributed towards a

global awareness of our situation. Before continuing to speak of my country, may I speak out for

our prisoners of conscience. There still remain such prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared thatbecause the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be

forgotten. I am standing here because I was once a prisoner of conscience. As you look at me and

listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one toomany. Those who have not yet been freed, those who have not yet been given access to the

benefits of justice in my country number much more than one. Please remember them and do

whatever is possible to effect their earliest, unconditional release.

Burma is a country of many ethnic nationalities and faith in its future can be founded only on a

true spirit of union. Since we achieved independence in 1948, there never has been a time when

we could claim the whole country was at peace. We have not been able to develop the trust andunderstanding necessary to remove causes of conflict. Hopes were raised by ceasefires that were

maintained from the early 1990s until 2010 when these broke down over the course of a few

months. One unconsidered move can be enough to remove long-standing ceasefires. In recent


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months, negotiations between the government and ethnic nationality forces have been making

progress. We hope that ceasefire agreements will lead to political settlements founded on theaspirations of the peoples, and the spirit of union.

My party, the National League for Democracy, and I stand ready and willing to play any role in

the process of national reconciliation. The reform measures that were put into motion byPresident U Thein Seins government can be sustained only with the intelligent cooperation of allinternal forces: the military, our ethnic nationalities, political parties, the media, civil societyorganizations, the business community and, most important of all, the general public. We can say

that reform is effective only if the lives of the people are improved and in this regard, the

international community has a vital role to play. Development and humanitarian aid, bi-lateralagreements and investments should be coordinated and calibrated to ensure that these will

promote social, political and economic growth that is balanced and sustainable. The potential of

our country is enormous. This should be nurtured and developed to create not just a more

prosperous but also a more harmonious, democratic society where our people can live in peace,security and freedom.

The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positiveforces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether all negative forces could ever

be removed. The simple answer is: No! It is in human nature to contain both the positive andthe negative. However, it is also within human capability to work to reinforce the positive and tominimize or neutralize the negative. Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal. But it is

one towards which we must continue to journey, our eyes fixed on it as a traveller in a desert

fixes his eyes on the one guiding star that will lead him to salvation. Even if we do not achieve

perfect peace on earth, because perfect peace is not of this earth, common endeavours to gainpeace will unite individuals and nations in trust and friendship and help to make our human

community safer and kinder.

I used the word kinder after careful deliberation; I might say the careful deliberation of manyyears. Of the sweets of adversity, and let me say that these are not numerous, I have found the

sweetest, the most precious of all, is the lesson I learnt on the value of kindness. Every kindness Ireceived, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world. To be

kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the

briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people.Norway has shown exemplary kindness in providing a home for the displaced of the earth,

offering sanctuary to those who have been cut loose from the moorings of security and freedom

in their native lands.

There are refugees in all parts of the world. When I was at the Maela refugee camp in Thailand

recently, I met dedicated people who were striving daily to make the lives of the inmates as free

from hardship as possible. They spoke of their concern over donor fatigue, which could alsotranslate as compassion fatigue. Donor fatigue expresses itself precisely in the reduction offunding. Compassion fatigue expresses itself less obviously in the reduction of concern. One isthe consequence of the other. Can we afford to indulge in compassion fatigue? Is the cost of

meeting the needs of refugees greater than the cost that would be consequent on turning an


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indifferent, if not a blind, eye on their suffering? I appeal to donors the world over to fulfill the

needs of these people who are in search, often it must seem to them a vain search, of refuge.

At Maela, I had valuable discussions with Thai officials responsible for the administration of Tak

province where this and several other camps are situated. They acquainted me with some of the

more serious problems related to refugee camps: violation of forestry laws, illegal drug use,home brewed spirits, the problems of controlling malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever and cholera.

The concerns of the administration are as legitimate as the concerns of the refugees. Hostcountries also deserve consideration and practical help in coping with the difficulties related to

their responsibilities.

Ultimately our aim should be to create a world free from the displaced, the homeless and the

hopeless, a world of which each and every corner is a true sanctuary where the inhabitants will

have the freedom and the capacity to live in peace. Every thought, every word, and every action

that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of usis capable of making such a contribution. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world

where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.

The Nobel Committee concluded its statement of 14 October 1991 with the words: In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize ... to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to

honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many peoplethroughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation

by peaceful means. When I joined the democracy movement in Burma it never occurred to methat I might ever be the recipient of any prize or honour. The prize we were working for was afree, secure and just society where our people might be able to realize their full potential. The

honour lay in our endeavour. History had given us the opportunity to give of our best for a cause

in which we believed. When the Nobel Committee chose to honour me, the road I had chosen of

my own free will became a less lonely path to follow. For this I thank the Committee, the peopleof Norway and peoples all over the world whose support has strengthened my faith in the

common quest for peace. Thank you.

diễn từ nhận giải nobel hòa bình của bà aung san suu kyi

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