Aung San Suu Kyi: “Freedom from Fear”
(1991)Document Text
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it. Most Burmese are familiar with the four a-gati, the four kinds of corruption. Chanda-gati, corruption induced by desire, is deviation from the right path in pursuit of bribes or for the sake of those one loves. Dosa-gati is taking the wrong path to spite those against whom one bears ill will, and moga-gati is aberration due to ignorance. But perhaps the worst of the four is bhaya-gati, for not only does bhaya, fear, stifle and slowly destroy all sense of right and wrong, it so often lies at the root of the other three kinds of corruption.
Just as chanda-gati, when not the result of sheer avarice, can be caused by fear of want or fear of losing the goodwill of those one loves, so fear of being surpassed, humiliated or injured in some way can provide the impetus for ill will. And it would be difficult to dispel...
"Freedom from Fear", from Freedom from Fear and Other Writings, revised ed. by Aung San Suu Kyi, Foreword by Vaclav Havel, translated by Michael Aris, translation copyright (c) 1991, 1995 by Aung San Suu Kyi and Michael Aris. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
