Yousafzai Quotes & Sayings

Only learn what God says. His words are divine messages, which you are free and independent to interpret. — Malala Yousafzai

The boys learn the Quran by heart, rocking back and forth as they recite. They learn that there is no such thing as science or literature, that dinosaurs never existed and man never went to the moon. — Malala Yousafzai

I am in a country which is five hours behind my beloved homeland Pakistan and my home in the Swat Valley. — Malala Yousafzai

Right from the start we were an unlucky country. — Malala Yousafzai

Every girl deserves to take part in creating the technology that will change our world and change who runs it. — Malala Yousafzai

Some parents do not send their children to school because they don't know its importance at all. — Malala Yousafzai

I say I am stronger than fear. — Malala Yousafzai

The Taliban should keep it in mind that one of us has to die one day. And if I die early, it does not matter. I will continue my campaign and I'm going back to Pakistan as soon as possible. And I want to be a politician. And, through politics, I am going to serve my mission, and I'm going to work for education for every child. — Malala Yousafzai

Education is our right, I said. Just as it is our right to sing. Islam has given us this right and says that every girl and boy should go to school. The Quran says we should seek knowledge, study hard and learn the mysteries of our world. — Malala Yousafzai

I fully support U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the U.N. General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. — Malala Yousafzai

There is no greater weapon than knowledge and no greater source of knowledge than the written word. — Malala Yousafzai

When we imagine the power of all our sisters standing together on the shoulders of a quality education - our joy knows no bounds. — Malala Yousafzai

I might have been calm, but my dear father was near tears. 'Are you all right, jani?' he said. 'Aba,' I said, trying to reassure him. 'Everybody knows they will die someday. No one can stop death. It doesn't matter if it comes from a Talib or from cancer. — Malala Yousafzai

You cannot rely on other people's support. — Malala Yousafzai

They are afraid of educated women. They are afraid of the power of knowledge. — Malala Yousafzai

I wasn't scared, but I had started making sure the gate was locked at night and asking God what happens when you die. — Malala Yousafzai

He believed that lack of education was the root of all of Pakistan's problems. Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be re-elected. — Malala Yousafzai

We felt like the Taliban saw us as little dolls to control, telling us what to do and how to dress. I thought if God wanted us to be like that He wouldn't have made us all different. — Malala Yousafzai

President Barack Obama and his family. (I was respectful, I believe, but I told him I did not like his drone strikes on Pakistan, that when they kill one bad person, innocent people are killed, too, and terrorism spreads more. I also told him that if America spent less money on weapons and war and more on education, the world would be a better place. If God has given you a voice, I decided, you must use it even if it is to disagree with the president of the United States.) — Malala Yousafzai

While boys and men could roam freely about town, my mother and I could not go out without a male relative to accompany us, even if it was a five-year-old boy! This was the tradition. — Malala Yousafzai

I had two options One was to remain silent and wait to be killed and the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up. — Malala Yousafzai

Do not wait for me to do something for your rights. It's your world and you can change it. — Malala Yousafzai

I have a new dream I must be a politician to save this country. There are so many crises in our country. I want to remove these crises. — Malala Yousafzai

I raise up my voice-not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard ... we cannot succeed when half of us are held back. — Malala Yousafzai

Why is it, that giving guns is so easy, but giving books is so hard? — Malala Yousafzai

One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.' I — Malala Yousafzai

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

It's horrible to feel unworthy in the eyes of your parents. — Malala Yousafzai

I only get angry at my brothers and at my father. — Malala Yousafzai

And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness. — Malala Yousafzai

What is interesting is the power and the impact of social media ... So we must try to use social media in a good way. — Malala Yousafzai

The challenging of repression by a new generation of activists - from Malala Yousafzai to Pussy Riot - across the globe reminded us how many women are still fighting for basic human rights. Our great-grandmothers' struggle in all its shocking detail seemed so relevant. — Sarah Gavron

If people volunteered in the same way to construct schools or roads or even clear the river of plastic wrappers, by God, Pakistan would become a paradise within a year. — Malala Yousafzai

I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind? (as quoted from Asia Bibi sentenced to hang for anti-Muslim blasphemy) — Malala Yousafzai

Even if you win three or four times, the next victory will not necessarily be yours without trying. — 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 colours and beauty, two feet which walk on the road of life, two hands to work for us, and two ears to hear the words of love. As I found with my ear, no one knows how much power they have in their each and every organ until they lose one. — Malala Yousafzai

Then our voices will only multiply even if we are dead. We can't disown our campaign! People — Malala Yousafzai

His sisters
my aunts
did not go to school at all, just like millions of girls in my country. Education had been a great gift for him. He believed that lack of education was the root of all of Pakistan's problems. Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be re-elected. He believed schooling should be available for all, rich and poor, boys and girls. The school that my father dreamed of would have desks and a library, computers, bright posters on the walls and, most important, washrooms. — Malala Yousafzai

My father always said, 'Malala will be free as a bird.' — Malala Yousafzai

Sometimes I play cricket, and I play badminton. — Malala Yousafzai

To us it's a sacred mountain and so high that it always wears a necklace of fleecy clouds. — Malala Yousafzai

The common people and the great men and women are all defined by how they deal with life's unfairness: Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Malala Yousafzai, and - Moki Martin. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, no matter how good you are, you still end up as a sugar cookie. Don't complain. Don't blame it on your misfortune. Stand tall, look to the future, and drive on! — William H. McRaven

Though we loved school, we hadn't realized how important education was until the Taliban tried to stop us. Going to school, reading and doing our homework wasn't just a way of passing time, it was our future. — Malala Yousafzai

We need to increase education budgets. — Malala Yousafzai

Women in the online gaming community have been harassed, threatened, and driven out. Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist media critic who documented such incidents, received support for her work, but also, in the words of a journalist, 'another wave of really aggressive, you know, violent personal threats, her accounts attempted to be hacked. And one man in Ontario took the step of making an online video game where you could punch Anita's image on the screen. And if you punched it multiple times, bruises and cuts would appear on her image.' The difference between these online gamers and the Taliban men who, last October, tried to murder fourteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai for speaking out about the right of Pakistani women to education is one of degree. Both are trying to silence and punish women for claiming voice, power, and the right to participate. Welcome to Manistan. — Rebecca Solnit

I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. — Malala Yousafzai

I raise up my voice-not so that I can shout, but so those without a voice can be heard. — Malala Yousafzai

Though Afghans are renowned fighters, Colonel Imam, the officer heading the program, complained that trying to organize them was 'like weighing frogs — Malala Yousafzai

I'm not becoming western; I am still following my Pashtun culture, and I'm wearing a shalvar kamiz, a dupatta on my head. — Malala Yousafzai

I don't know what would I do in future; I'll decide it later. — Malala Yousafzai

It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are. — Malala Yousafzai

Let us pick up our books and pencils. They are our most powerful weapons. — Malala Yousafzai

I thought that words and books and pens were more powerful than guns. — Malala Yousafzai

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?' — Malala Yousafzai

There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion. — Malala Yousafzai

Sometimes Fazlullah appeared galloping in on a black horse. His men stopped health workers giving polio drops, saying the vaccinations were an American plot to make Muslim women infertile so that the people of Swat would die out. — Malala Yousafzai

Putting masala on the situation — Malala Yousafzai

The Americans said they had no choice but to do it like that because no one really knew which side the ISI was on and someone might have tipped off bin Laden before they reached him. The director of the CIA said Pakistan was "either involved or incompetent. — Malala Yousafzai

A talib fires three shots at point-blank range at three girls in a van and doesn't kill any of them. This seems an unlikely story. — Malala Yousafzai

Some girls cannot go to school because of the child labor and child trafficking. — Malala Yousafzai

[Rahmat Shah Sayel] described what was happening in Afghanistan as a 'war between two elephants' -the US and the Soviet Union- not our war, and said that we Pashtuns were 'like the grass crushed by the hooves of two fierce beasts — Malala Yousafzai

Money poured in from all over the Arab world, particularly Saudi Arabia, which matched whatever the US sent, and volunteer fighters too, including a Saudi millionaire called Osama bin Laden. — Malala Yousafzai

How great God is! He has given us eyes to see the beauty of the world, hands to touch it, a nose to experience all its fragrance, and a heart to appreciate it all. But we don't realize how miraculous our senses are until we lose one. — Malala Yousafzai

Why send a daughter to school?" the men often say. "She doesn't need an education to run a house. — Malala Yousafzai

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. — Malala Yousafzai

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. — Malala Yousafzai

My mother was always trying to think up plans for what she would do if the Taliban came. She thought of sleeping with a knife under her pillow. I said I could sneak into the toilet and call the police. My brothers and I thought of digging a tunnel. Once again I prayed for a magic wand to make the Taliban disappear. — Malala Yousafzai

Read thousands of books and I will power myself with knowledge. Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism. — Malala Yousafzai

Books can capture injustices in a way that stays with you and makes you want to do something about them. That's why they are so powerful. — Malala Yousafzai

After the PM presented me with the award and cheque, I presented him with a long list of demands. — Malala Yousafzai

One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world. — Malala Yousafzai

On his daughter Malala Yousafzai: When she was very small I used to say to her, 'tell me Malala, how is the school going?' And she'd say 'it is so-so, you should change this and this ... ' I trusted her wisdom. — Ziauddin 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

We like to put sacred texts in flowing waters, so I rolled it up, tied it to a piece of wood, placed a dandelion on top, and floated it in the stream which flows into the Swat River. Surely God would find it there. — Malala Yousafzai

When we have our first sight of the Kaaba, the black-shrouded cube in Mecca that is our most sacred place, any wish in your heart is granted by God. — Malala Yousafzai

People ask me, what special is in my mentorship which has made Malala so bold and so courageous and so vocal and poised? I tell them, don't ask me what I did. Ask me what I did not do. I did not clip her wings, and that's all. — Ziauddin Yousafzai

A girl has the power to go forward in her life. And she's not only a mother, she's not only a sister, she's not only a wife. But a girl has the - she should have an identity. She should be recognized and she has equal rights as a boy. — Malala Yousafzai

I remembered a tapa my grandmother used to recite: 'No Pashtun leaves his land of his own sweet will, Either he leaves from poverty or he leaves for love — Malala Yousafzai

I would take responsibility for the fight. (I seemed to always take the blame!) — Malala Yousafzai

Outside his office my father had a framed copy of a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to his son's teacher, translated into Pashto. It is a very beautiful letter, full of good advice. "Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books ... But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside," it says. "Teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. — Malala Yousafzai

When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. — Malala Yousafzai

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? — Malala Yousafzai

In every country, politics is considered to be a waste of time. — Malala Yousafzai

I truly believe the only way we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds, but our hearts and our souls. — Malala Yousafzai

My world has changed but I have not. — Malala Yousafzai

It is my belief that God sends the solution first and the problem later. — Malala Yousafzai

The extremists are afraid of books and pens, the power of education frightens them. they are afraid of women. — Malala Yousafzai

If we believe in something greater than our lives, then our voices will only multiply even if we are dead. — Malala Yousafzai

We are human beings, and this is the part of our human nature, that we don't learn the importance of anything until it's snatched from our hands. — Malala Yousafzai

O Malalai of Maiwand, Rise once more to make Pashtuns understand the song of honor, Your poetic words turn worlds around, I beg you, rise again My father told the story of Malalai to anyone who came to our house. I loved hearing the story and the songs my father sang to me, and the way my name floated on the wind when people called it. — Malala Yousafzai

Who is Malala? I am Malala and this is my story. — Malala Yousafzai

I don't have a phone, but I do have an iPad. — Malala Yousafzai

When people hear my daughter and when they know about her wisdom and maturity, they think that her father must have been sitting with her and mentoring her. They think he would have spent a lot of time in bringing her up. They think he would have constructed her. — Ziauddin Yousafzai

Education is not simply to learn to read and write. It's emancipation. It makes you free. — Ziauddin Yousafzai

They glimpsed enough of each other to know they liked one another, but for us it is taboo to express such things. Instead he sent her poems she could not read. 'I admired his mind,' she says. 'And me, her beauty,' he laughs. — Malala Yousafzai

Honor your daughters. They are honorable. — Malala Yousafzai

Rather I receive your bullet riddled body with honor that us of your cowardliness on the battlefield. — Malala Yousafzai

I want to make this world perfect. — Malala Yousafzai

Our Butkara ruins were a magical place to play hide-and-seek. Once some foreign archaeologists arrived to do some work there and told us that in times gone by it was a place of pilgrimage, full of beautiful temples domed with gold where Buddhist kings lay buried. My father wrote a poem, "The Relics of Butkara," which summed up perfectly how temple and mosque could exist side by side: "When the voice of truth rises from the minarets, / The Buddha smiles, / And the broken chain of history reconnects. — Malala Yousafzai

There's no place like home. And I do miss my home. — Malala Yousafzai