Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.
Last updated on September 10, 2024.
Malala Yousafzai, often referred to mononymously as Malala, is a Pakistani activist for female education and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pakistani and the first Pashtun to ever receive a Nobel Prize. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the Pakistani Taliban have at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen."
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.
I believe in peace. I believe in mercy.
We must tell girls their voices are important.
Benazir Bhutto was an inspirational leader and an inspirational woman.
In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor.
When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.
Islam means peace.
I say I am stronger than fear.
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?
Sometimes I play cricket, and I play badminton.
Honor your daughters. They are honorable.
What is interesting is the power and the impact of social media... So we must try to use social media in a good way.
There are many problems, but I think there is a solution to all these problems; it's just one, and it's education.
I enjoy science, and I'm a very curious person. I always want to know the reason behind everything, big or small.
I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees.
If you go anywhere, even paradise, you will miss your home.
Terrorism will spill over if you don't speak up.
Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone.
I will only miss school for an engagement if it is going to bring real change.
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.
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.
I'm not becoming western; I am still following my Pashtun culture, and I'm wearing a shalvar kamiz, a dupatta on my head.
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.
We should all consider each other as human beings, and we should respect each other.
All I want is an education, and I am afraid of no one.
There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion.
I want to make this world perfect.
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.
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 am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights; rather, I am focusing on women to be independent to fight for themselves.
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.
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.
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?
I need to complete my homework on time.
I will get my education - if it is in home, school, or anyplace.
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.
My father always said, 'Malala will be free as a bird.'
Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness.
If you don't focus on the future generation, it means you are destroying your country.
I believe the gun has no power at all.
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.
I realized that becoming a doctor, I can only help a small community. But by becoming a politician, I can help my whole country.
Pakistan is a peace-loving, democratic country.
Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality.
The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue.
It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.
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.
Some parents do not send their children to school because they don't know its importance at all.
I know now that what countries do at summits has the power to help girls in Pakistan, Nigeria or Afghanistan.
I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists, especially the Taliban.
There's no place like home. And I do miss my home.
I think I have a right to live my life the way I like.
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.
Education is neither eastern nor western.
There are so many figures in our history that did not believe they could make a change, and they did.
Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.
I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was shot. I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up.
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.
Some girls cannot go to school because of the child labor and child trafficking.
I don't cover my face because I want to show my identity.