Although none of our Buddhist societies developed anything like democracy in their systems of government, I personally have great admiration for secular democracy. When Tibet was still free, we cultivated our natural isolation, mistakenly thinking that we could prolong our peace and security that way. Consequently, we paid little attention to the changes taking place in the world outside.
Insight From the Dalai Lama: 2007 Calendar,” Copyright © 2006, Andrews McMeel Publishing.