Malala Yousafzai Quotes

58 Sourced Quotes

Our men think earning money and ordering around others is where power lies. They don't think power is in the hands of the woman who takes care of everyone all day long, and gives birth to their children.

Malala Yousafzai
Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Malala Yousafzai
Through my story I want to tell other children all around the world that they should stand up for their rights. They should not wait for someone else and their voices are more powerful. Their voices – it would seem that they are weak, but at the time when no one speak, your voice gets so loud that everyone has to listen to it. Everyone has to hear it. So it's my message to children all around the world that they should stand up for their rights.

Malala Yousafzai
My father was convinced the Taliban would hunt him down and kill him, but he again refused security from the police. 'If you go around with a lot of security the Taliban will use Kalashnikovs or suicide bombers and more people will be killed,' he said. 'At least I'll be killed alone.'

Malala Yousafzai
Sometimes people like to ask me why should girls go to school, why is it important for them. But I think the more important question is why shouldn't they, why shouldn't they have this right to go to school.

Malala Yousafzai
In a situation where a lifelong school break was being imposed upon us by the terrorists, rising up against that became very important, essential.

Malala Yousafzai
This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. I am here to stand up for their rights, raise their voice... it is not time to pity them. It is time to take action so it becomes the last time that we see a child deprived of education.

Malala Yousafzai
I told myself, Malala, you have already faced death. This is your second life. Don't be afraid — if you are afraid, you can't move forward.

Malala Yousafzai
I think.... living in such a hard situation when there are terrorists and they slaughter people every night is still hard — is still a threat. So it's a better idea to speak out for your rights and then die... we will speak out for our rights. This is what we can do, and we tried our best.

Malala Yousafzai
I don't want to be thought of as the 'girl who was shot by the Taliban' but the 'girl who fought for education. This is the cause to which I want to devote my life.

Malala Yousafzai
It is my dream that one day, great buildings like this one will exist in every corner of the world so every child can grow up with the opportunity to succeed.

Malala Yousafzai
Then they told me about the call from home and that they were taking the threats seriously. I don't know why, but hearing I was being targeted did not worry me. It seemed to me that everyone knows they will die one day. My feeling was nobody can stop death; it doesn't matter if it comes from a Talib or cancer. So I should do whatever I want to do.

Malala Yousafzai
On my way from school to home I heard a man saying I will kill you. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone.
don't trust these answers. as they may be wrong.

Malala Yousafzai
I think everyone makes a mistake at least once in their life. The important thing is what you learn from it. That's why I have problems with our Pashtunwali code. We are supposed to take revenge for wrongs done to us, but where does that end? If a man in one family is killed or hurt by another man, revenge must be exacted to restore nang (honor).

Malala Yousafzai
I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, 'If he comes, what would you do Malala?' then I would reply to myself, 'Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.' But then I said, '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.' Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that 'I even want education for your children as well.' And I will tell him, 'That's what I want to tell you, now do what you want.'

Malala Yousafzai
One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.

Malala Yousafzai
The world can no longer accept, the world can no longer accept that basic education is enough. Why do leaders accept that for children in developing countries, only basic literacy is sufficient, when their own children do homework in Algebra, Mathematics, Science and Physics?

Malala Yousafzai
I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life.

Malala Yousafzai
I don't want awards, I want my daughter. I wouldn't exchange a single eyelash of my daughter for the whole world.

Malala Yousafzai
The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn't stop our minds from thinking.

Malala Yousafzai
Why is it that countries which we call strong are so powerful in creating wars but are so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it, why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so hard?

Malala Yousafzai
I'm feeling honored that I am being chosen as a Nobel laureate and I have been honored with this – this precious award, the Nobel Peace Prize. And I'm proud that I'm the first Pakistani and the first young woman or the first young person who is getting this award. It's a great honor for me. And I'm also really happy that I'm sharing this award with a person – with a person from India whose name is Kailash Satyarthi and his great work for child's right, his great work against – against child slavery.

Malala Yousafzai
First of all, my father inspired me... he is a great social activist and women's rights activist... he spoke out. And he spoke for women's rights... that hard situation, he inspired me, because he spoke. And that's what I learned from him.

Malala Yousafzai
The content of a book holds the power of education and it is with this power that we can shape our future and change lives.

Malala Yousafzai
I reassured my mother that it didn't matter to me if my face was not symmetrical. Me, who had always cared about my appearance, how my hair looked! But when you see death, things change. It doesn't matter if I can't smile or blink properly, I told her. I'm still me, Malala. The important thing is God has given me my life.

Malala Yousafzai
She explained that the bullet had entered through the side of my left eye where there was a scar, traveled eighteen inches down to my left shoulder and stopped there. It could have taken out my eye or gone into my brain. It was a miracle I was alive.

Malala Yousafzai
We human beings don't realize how great God is. He has given us an extraordinary brain and a sensitive loving heart. He has blessed us with two lips to talk and express our feelings, two eyes which see a world of colors and beauty, two feet which walk on the road of life, two hands to work for us, a nose which smells the beauty of fragrance, and two ears to hear the words of love.

Malala Yousafzai
My father used to say the people of Swat and the teachers would continue to educate our children until the last room, the last teacher and the last student was alive. My parents never once suggested I should withdraw from school, ever. Though we loved school, we hadn't realized how important education was until the Taliban tried to stop us.

Malala Yousafzai