Quote by Aung San Suu Kyi: “Compassion is not weakness; kindness of heart is strength.”

Our culture often equates toughness with coldness and emotion with fragility. This flips that — saying that the capacity to feel for others, to extend warmth under pressure, is a form of power, not a vulnerability. It takes more strength to stay open than to harden yourself against the world.

Suu Kyi was under house arrest when she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and her Nobel lecture, read by her son, articulated her philosophy of non-violent resistance and compassion. Myanmar was ruled by the military junta SLORC, and pro-democracy activists faced imprisonment, torture, and death.

Burmese politician and former State Counsellor of Myanmar who led the National League for Democracy and spent years under house arrest for her pro-democracy activism. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Her later years were marked by international controversy over her response to the Rohingya crisis.