I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls. Malala Yousafzai More Quotes by Malala Yousafzai More Quotes From Malala Yousafzai When someone takes away your pens you realise quite how important education is. Malala Yousafzai pensrealisingimportant 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 cancerpowerfulhome My dream is to see every girl educated, in every country. Malala Yousafzai girldreamcountry There are many problems, but I think there is a solution to all these problems, it's just one and it's education. You educate all the girls and boys. You give them the opportunity to learn. Malala Yousafzai girlopportunityboys read thousands of books and I will power myself with knowledge. Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism. Malala Yousafzai defeatweaponsbook The best way to fight terrorism is not through guns. It's through pens, books, teachers and schools. Malala Yousafzai teacherbookschool I’m still me, Malala. The important thing is God has given me my life. Malala Yousafzai malalagivenimportant The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn’t stop our minds from thinking. Malala Yousafzai motivationalbookthinking 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. Malala Yousafzai namesamericapeople 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 powerfulteacherchildren 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. Malala Yousafzai girlheartthinking I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taliban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools. Malala Yousafzai girlmotherdream I am proud to be a girl, and I know that girls can change the world. Malala Yousafzai proudgirlworld 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 differentpowerfullittles 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. Malala Yousafzai charactercountrypeople I've always been a daydreamer, and sometimes in lessons my mind would drift and I'd imagine that on the way home a terrorist might jump out and shoot me on those steps. I wondered what I would do. Maybe I'd take off my shoes and hit him, but then I'd think if I did that there would be no difference between me and a terrorist. It would be better to plead, 'OK, shoot me, but first listen to me. What you are doing is wrong. I'm not against you personally, I just want every girl to go to school.' Malala Yousafzai girlpowerfulschool My father always says that heroism is in the Pashtun DNA. Malala Yousafzai heroismdnafather 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 riversyearsschool We have to change this idea that women are only supposed to work in the house... Women should go out and be what they want Malala Yousafzai empoweringhouseideas 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 piecesriverswater
