But despotic governments do not recognize the precious human component of the state, seeing its citizens only as a faceless, mindless - and helpless - mass to be manipulated at will. It is as though people were incidental to a nation rather than its very life-blood. Patriotism, which should be the vital love and care of a people for their land, is debased into a smokescreen of hysteria to hide the injustices of authoritarian rulers who define the interests of the state in terms of their own limited interests.


In Quest of Democracy (1991)

Aung San Suu Kyi Quotes

But despotic governments do not recognize the precious human component of the state, seeing its citizens only as a faceless, mindless - and helpless...

But despotic governments do not recognize the precious human component of the state, seeing its citizens only as a faceless, mindless - and helpless...

But despotic governments do not recognize the precious human component of the state, seeing its citizens only as a faceless, mindless - and helpless...

But despotic governments do not recognize the precious human component of the state, seeing its citizens only as a faceless, mindless - and helpless...