Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam, who 44 years back on June 11, 1963 burned himself to death protesting the government’s torture policy against priests.

I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think…. As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.
- David Halberstam, a New York Times reporter

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via kottke