20 Quotes by Cambodian authors

Khmer sayings move with the cadence of monsoon rain, measured, nourishing, and sometimes sudden. They carry the warmth of village hearths and the cool of pagoda shade, favoring humble wit over grand pronouncement. Themes of karma, filial respect, shared labor, and the rise-and-fall of seasons thread through them like a krama: practical, protective, beautifully plain. Water and rice fields stand in for fate and patience; buffaloes, palm sugar, and the Mekong for work, sweetness, and flow. Beneath their gentle humor sits a steady ethic: endure, give, remember.

See the complete list of authors from Cambodia

"Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them"

Norodom Sihanouk, Royalty

Norodom Sihanouk

"Pol Pot will surrender, be captured or commit suicide"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"Cambodia possesses now the rights to look far into the future, and everything for making a future construction is waiting for the Cambodian own efforts"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"John Foster Dulles had called on me in his capacity as Secretary of State, and he had exhausted every argument to persuade me to place Cambodia under the protection of the South East Asia Treaty Organization"

Norodom Sihanouk, Royalty

Norodom Sihanouk

"Cambodia wanted no part of SEATO. We would look after ourselves as neutrals and Buddhists"

Norodom Sihanouk, Royalty

Norodom Sihanouk

"We have lost the art of sharing and caring"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"The lessons of the past should steer us towards ensuring lasting legacies for generations yet to be born"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"Yet, our achievements also mask many continuing failings and seem to expose more future dangers"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"Let me reassure that the Kingdom of Cambodia, a country with independence, neutrality, peace, freedom, democracy and human rights, as you all have seen, shall be existing with no end"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"The trial organized with U.N. participation of some kind will be for crimes committed by Khmer Rouge leaders from 1975 to 1979. That's it"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"Peace, so elusive in the past many decades, now finally prevails all over the country"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"We want to see all demonstrations stopped"

Hun Sen, Statesman

Hun Sen

"I think we are entering a new phase in Cambodia history; it is the beginning of something like the Arab Spring"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"Finally a ray of hope to end the impunity that rules in Cambodia!"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"That money, and the aspirations of ordinary Cambodians which it represents, cannot be written off. It’s still not too late to salvage the investment"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"I think nothing can resist the aspiration of the Cambodian people to have more freedoms, to have a new system that is more free and more just, in short to have democracy"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"In order for international assistance to be effectively used, we need democracy. We need transparency. We need the rule of law. We need accountability"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"The Cambodian people will definitely fight to achieve this task that determines their destiny"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"Only a genuine culture of dialogue is the basis for genuine democracy and the basis of sustainable peace"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

"I am prepared to sacrifice my freedom, and even my life, to give democracy a chance to help ensure freedom for my unfortunate people"

Sam Rainsy, Politician

Sam Rainsy

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