Malala Yousafzai Quotes
Activist
Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality.
It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.
I speak not for myself but for those without voice... those who have fought for their rights... their right to live in peace, their right to be treated with dignity, their right to equality of opportunity, their right to be educated.
All I want is an education, and I am afraid of no one.
I say I am stronger than fear.
I will get my education - if it is in home, school, or anyplace.
There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion.
When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.
Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.
There's no place like home. And I do miss my home.
If you go anywhere, even paradise, you will miss your home.
We should all consider each other as human beings, and we should respect each other.
Some parents do not send their children to school because they don't know its importance at all.
The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.
The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue.
When God created man and woman, he was thinking, 'Who shall I give the power to, to give birth to the next human being?' And God chose woman. And this is the big evidence that women are powerful.
In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life. But in other part of the world, we are starving for education... it's like a precious gift. It's like a diamond.
Honor your daughters. They are honorable.
Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness.
What is interesting is the power and the impact of social media... So we must try to use social media in a good way.
Education is neither eastern nor western.
I believe in peace. I believe in mercy.
I don't cover my face because I want to show my identity.
If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.
We must tell girls their voices are important.
Terrorism will spill over if you don't speak up.
Once I had asked God for one or two extra inches in height, but instead, he made me as tall as the sky, so high that I could not measure myself... By giving me this height to reach people, he has also given me great responsibilities.
When I was young I used to listen to other people and to try and understand what they thought and where they were coming from. I listened and didn't speak.
Some people only ask others to do something. I believe that, why should I wait for someone else? Why don't I take a step and move forward.
I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.
Pakistan is a peace-loving, democratic country.
Some girls cannot go to school because of the child labor and child trafficking.
There are many problems, but I think there is a solution to all these problems; it's just one, and it's education.
I need to complete my homework on time.
I believe the gun has no power at all.
Sometimes I play cricket, and I play badminton.
I want to make this world perfect.
I believe it's a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear and if a woman can go to the beach and wear nothing, then why can't she also wear everything?
In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor.
I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists, especially the Taliban.
I think I have a right to live my life the way I like.
Islam means peace.
And also I didn't want my future to be just sitting in a room and be imprisoned in my four walls and just cooking and giving birth to children. I didn't want to see my life in that way.
I don't know why people have divided the whole world into two groups, west and east. Education is neither eastern nor western. Education is education and it's the right of every human being.
I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was shot. I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up.
My father always said, 'Malala will be free as a bird.'
In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflict stop children to go to their schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering.
The important thing to note is that it is not important whether Malala was shot or not - Malala is not asking for personal favors or support. She is asking for support with girls' education and women's rights. So don't support Malala, support her campaign for girls' education and women's rights.
I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him.
My father always says that heroism is in the Pashtun DNA.
I realized that becoming a doctor, I can only help a small community. But by becoming a politician, I can help my whole country.
I have already seen death, and I know that death is supporting me in my cause of education. Death does not want to kill me.
In Kenya, I met wonderful girls; girls who wanted to help their communities. I was with them in their school, listening to their dreams. They still have hope. They want to be doctor and teachers and engineers.
We women are going to bring change. We are speaking up for girls' rights, but we must not behave like men, like they have done in the past.
When someone tells me about Malala, the girl who was shot by the Taliban - that's my definition for her - I don't think she's me. Now I don't even feel as if I was shot. Even my life in Swat feels like a part of history or a movie I watched. Things change. God has given us a brain and a heart which tell us how to live.
On the day when I was shot, all of my friends' faces were covered, except mine.
At night when I used to sleep, I was thinking all the time that shall I put a knife under my pillow.
I might be afraid of ghosts and like dragons and those things, but I'm not afraid of the Taliban.
If you don't focus on the future generation, it means you are destroying your country.
I was born a proud daughter of Pakistan, though like all Swatis I thought of myself first as a Swati and Pashtun, before Pakistani.
When I was born, some of our relatives came to our house and told my mother, 'Don't worry, next time you will have a son.'
I only get angry at my brothers and at my father.
I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees.
I have learned so much from Nelson Mandela, and he has been my leader. He is a perpetual inspiration for me and millions of others around the world.
The real Malala is gone somewhere, and I can't find her.
Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone.
Outside of my home, I look like a very obedient, very serious, very good kind of girl, but nobody knows what happens inside the house.
In Swat, there are two jobs a woman's going to do: a teacher or a doctor. If not, then become a housewife.
A doctor can only treat patients. A doctor can only help the people who are shot or who are injured. But a politician can stop people from injuries. A politician can take a step so that no person is scared tomorrow.
Pakistanis can't trust. They've seen in history that people, particularly politicians, are corrupt. And they're misguided by people in the name of Islam. They're told: 'Malala is not a Muslim, she's not in purdah, she's working for America.'
I know now that what countries do at summits has the power to help girls in Pakistan, Nigeria or Afghanistan.
I am a daughter. My father is an example for me.
I don't know what would I do in future; I'll decide it later.
I was excited when King's College announced a scholarship for students who are in developing countries.
If you kill someone, it shows that you are afraid of that person.
I want people to remember that Pakistan is my country. It is like my mother, and I love it dearly. Even if its people hate me, I will still love it.
I want poverty to end in tomorrow's Pakistan. I want every girl in Pakistan to go to school.
Islam tells us every girl and boy should be educated. I don't know why the Taliban have forgotten it.
It's good to fight with your brothers, and it's good to tease them to give them advice.
Nelson Mandela is physically separated from us, but his soul and spirit will never die. He belongs to the whole world because he is an icon of equality, freedom and love, the values we need all the time everywhere.
I think life is always dangerous. Some people get afraid of it. Some people don't go forward. But some people, if they want to achieve their goal, they have to go. They have to move... We have seen the barbaric situation of the 21st century in Swat. So why should I be afraid now?
Benazir Bhutto was an inspirational leader and an inspirational woman.
Many girls do not go to school because of poverty.
For my brothers it was easy to think about the future. They can be anything they want. But for me it was hard and for that reason I wanted to become educated and empower myself with knowledge.
People say Malala's voice is being sold to the world. But I see it as Malala's voice reaching the world and resonating globally. You should think about what is behind Malala's voice. What is she saying? I am only talking about education, women's rights, and peace.
I discovered Deborah Ellis's books in the school library after my head teacher encouraged me to go beyond the school curriculum and look for books I might enjoy.
I cannot believe how much love people have shown me.
I'm not becoming western; I am still following my Pashtun culture, and I'm wearing a shalvar kamiz, a dupatta on my head.
There's no one who has been living for centuries.
In countries other than Pakistan - I won't necessarily call them 'Western' - people support me. This is because people there respect others. They don't do this because I am a Pashtun or a Punjabi, a Pakistani, or an Iranian, they do it because of one's words and character. This is why I am being respected and supported there.
I want to have fun, but I don't quite know how.
We need to increase education budgets.
It gets quite difficult for me when I listen to pop music. I don't often understand the words, but when someone translates them to me, I think, 'What is this song representing? That women are just there to be treated like objects?'
I want to serve the people.
My story is the story of thousands of children from around the world. I hope it inspires others to stand up for their rights.
In every country, politics is considered to be a waste of time.
I hope that one day when I'll go back to Pakistan, I will build a university like Harvard.
It's an honor to be awarded the Liberty Medal.
Any talk of me engaging in a conspiracy against Pakistan is completely baseless.
There are so many figures in our history that did not believe they could make a change, and they did.