Aung San Suu Kyi tells how Nobel Peace Prize saved her during years under house arrest Each one was a different planet pursuing its own separate course in an indifferent universe. What the Nobel Peace Prize did was to draw me once again into the world of other human beings, outside the isolated area in which I lived, to restore a sense of reality to me. What was more important, the Nobel Prize had drawn the attention of the world to the struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma. We were not going to be forgotten. Suu Kyi, who since winning freedom in 2010 has led her National League for Democracy party into opposition in Burma's parliament, offered cautious support for the first tentative steps toward democratic reform in her country. She added that progress depended on continued foreign pressure on the army-backed government. If I advocate cautious optimism, it is not because I do not have faith in the future, but because I do not want to encourage blind faith. "Without faith in the future, without the conviction that democratic values and fundamental human rights are not only necessary but possible for our society, our movement could not have been sustained throughout the destroying years," she said, referring to the past two decades since Burma's military leaders rejected her party's overwhelming triumph in 1990 elections, one year after Suu Kyi's own imprisonment. Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, introduced Suu Kyi as a leader of "awe-inspiring tenacity, sacrifice and firmness of principle." He said: "In your isolation, you have become a moral leader for the whole world," he said from the podium, turning to the seated Suu Kyi. Your voice became increasingly clear the more the military regime tried to isolate you. Your cause mobilised your people and prevailed over a massive military junta. Whenever your name is mentioned or when you speak, your words bring new energy and hope to the entire world. Suu Kyi, in a traditional Burmese gown of purple, lilac and ivory, offered only a stoic Mona Lisa smile at the end of her speech, greeted with a 2-minute ovation. As on her previous public events this week in Switzerland and Norway, she spoke with a voice of unerring crisp diction but a physical presence bordering on exhaustion. After the speech she left the city hall for the neighbouring Nobel Peace Center where artists had designed an interactive display called "Mother Democracy" chronicling the highlights of her life. Later she was scheduled to address a public rally outside city hall. There, thousands of locals and tourists, many from foreign cruise liners docked in Oslo's fjord, mingled among outdoor stalls selling arts and crafts as a local rock band warmed up on an outdoor stage. On Sunday she heads to the Norwegian city of Bergen to meet charities and members of Norway's Burmese refugee community, then on Monday speaks alongside U2 singer Bono before the pair fly to Dublin, Ireland, for a celebrity-studded concert in her honour. On Tuesday she starts engagements in England, including a visit to her Oxford University alma mater and a speech to the joint houses of Parliament.