The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces 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 and the negative. However, it is also within human capability to work to reinforce the positive and to minimize 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 gain peace will unite individuals and nations in trust and friendship and help to make our human community safer and kinder.

After enduring many years of house arrest for her pro-democracy resistance against Burma’s (now Myanmar) dictatorship, Aung San Suu Kyi, now a member of Myanmar’s Parliament, was free to receive her Nobel Peace Prize today in Oslo. The prize was awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991.

Full text of her Nobel lecture delivered today in Oslo is available at this link.