Malala Yousafzai

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

The most beautiful thing in a village in the morning is the sight of a child in a school uniform.

If our politicians hadn’t spent so much money on building an atomic bomb we might have had enough for schools.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

Don’t kill doves in the garden. You kill one and the others won’t come.

Don’t accept good things from bad people.

They can stop us going to school but they can’t stop us learning.

When you start your journey from the end of a snake’s tail,
You will end up on its head in an ocean of poison.

For me the valley was a sunny place and I couldn’t see the clouds gathering behind the mountains. My father used to say: «I will protect your freedom, Malala. Carry on with your dreams».

It was as if there was a feud between two brothers (Muslims and Hindus) and they agreed to live in different houses.

To be torn from the country that you love is not something to wish on anyone.

Rather I receive your bullet-riddled body with honour
Than news of your cowardice on the battlefield.

Without honour, the world counts for nothing.

When the voice of truth rises from the minarets,
The Buddha smiles,
And the broken chain of history reconnects.

There is a way out of even the worst trouble and danger if we keep faith.