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.

My mother always told me, 'hide your face people are looking at you.' I would reply, 'it does not matter; I am also looking at them.'

I don't want revenge on the Taliban, I want education for sons and daughters of the Taliban.

Challenge the social norms created and enforced by men, and you disgrace your family and community. That morning, it meant that the patriarchy had grown so fragile that it could be threatened by a pair of jeans.

When I was in Birmingham, my dad treated our house like an art museum and me like the signature piece in the collection. When I was alone, I unraveled—because the hardest thing to be was myself.

If we lived together without getting married, my parents would stop speaking to me, at least for a while. People would inevitably find out about us, and all my work in Pakistan would go up in flames. It was too big of a risk. There were only two options—get married or let him go. I hated them both.

'You're already a good partner, Asser. Things are great between us, but I still don't know how I feel about being a wife.' 'So…you're saying that I just need to find a way to reverse about five thousand years of patriarchy and social norms around marriage…and then we can be together?' I rolled my eyes at him. 'For you, I'll try anything,' he said.

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.

Why shall I wait for someone else? Why shall I be looking to the government, to the army, that they would help us … for them to help me. Why don't I raise my voice? Why don't we speak up for our rights?

I think that the best way to solve problems and to fight is through dialogue, is through peaceful way, but for me the best way to fight against terrorism and extremism is just simple thing: educate the next generation.

I would tell him that shoot me but first listen to me. And I would tell him that education is my right and education is the right of your daughter and son as well. And I'm speaking up for them. I'm speaking up for peace.

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 …

There's nothing special about me. The only thing that's different in my story is that my father did not stop me.

Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be re-elected.

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.

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.'

There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women.

We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.

Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human.

We must tell girls their voices are important. Sometimes children think it is not their job… girls are asking for their future.