Malala Yousafzai is the youngest recipient of Nobel Peace Prize. The brave soul was shot in head by Taliban militants while she was on her way back home in her school bus. The fighter nonetheless made a full recovery and continues to voice her opinion on female education. Here are a few interesting tidbits from the life of Malala.
Fighting a battle with death this activist emerged victorious. She was only 15 when terrorist outfit Taliban issued death threat against her for advocating female education. Despite the looming dangers she did not deter and as a result was shot by militants in cold blood.
The incident caused a ripple across the globe and offers for treating her flooded from all corners. The global community condemned the attacks and Malala became an icon almost overnight.
For her efforts in the direction of women emancipation she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She even co-authored the book 'I Am Malala' along with Christina Lamb.
A documentary 'He Named Me Malala' based on her ordeal was released in October 2015.
The accident left her hard of hearing and she uses cochlear implants. However, nothing has deterred this brave teenager from completing her education and she is currently studying in Edgbaston High School in Birmingham, UK.
Here are a few inspirational quotes by the famous activist Malala Yousafzai.
Let us pick up our books and our pens,” I said. “They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.
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
Malala Yousafzai
If one man can destroy everything, why can't one girl change it?
Malala Yousafzai
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 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.
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
The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn’t stop our minds from thinking.
Malala Yousafzai
We liked to be known as the clever girls. When we decorated our hands with henna for holidays and weddings, we drew calculus and chemical formulae instead of flowers and butterflies.
Malala Yousafzai
Read thousands of books and I will power myself with knowledge. Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism.
Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.
Malala Yousafzai
I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right.
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.
Malala Yousafzai
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.
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.
Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.
Malala Yousafzai
Now, every morning when I open my eyes, I long to see my old room full of my things, my clothes all over the floor and my school prizes on the shelves.
Is Islam such a weak religion that it cannot tolerate a book written against it? Not my Islam!
Malala Yousafzai
At night our fear is strong . . . but in the morning, in the light, we find our courage again.
Malala Yousafzai
They told us if they kill all the lions the wildlife will disappear, so now those who become warriors are those with higher education, not those who kill lions.
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.
Told him that instead of focusing on eradicating terrorism through war, he should focus on eradicating it through education.
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.
We felt like the Taliban saw us as like little dolls to control, telling us what to do and how to dress. I thought if God wanted us to be like that He would not have made us all different.
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.
I love physics because it is about truth, a world determined by principles and laws—no messing around or twisting things like in politics, particularly those in my country.
When we decorated our hands with henna for holidays and weddings, we drew calculus and chemical formulae instead of flowers and butterflies.
Malala Yousafzai
Is not at all uncommon for women in my country to be illiterate, but to see my mother, a proud and intelligent woman, struggle to read the prices in the bazaar was an unspoken sadness for both of us, I think.
To sit down on a chair and read my books with all my friends at school is my right. To see each and every human being with a smile of happiness is my wish. I am Malala. My world has changed but I have not.
We Pashtuns are split between Pakistan and Afghanistan and don’t really recognize the border that the British drew more than 100 years ago.
Malala Yousafzai
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
Malala Yousafzai
Our news bulletins were full of killings and death, so it was natural for Atal to think of coffins and graves. Instead of hide-and-seek and cops and robbers, children were now playing army vs. Taliban.
Some people are afraid of ghosts, some of spiders or snakes- in those days we were afraid of our fellow human beings.
Malala Yousafzai
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.
We thought speaking in English meant you were more intelligent. We were wrong of course. It does not matter what language you choose, the important thing is the words you use to express yourself.
I am very proud to be a Pashtun, but sometimes I think our code of conduct has a lot to answer for, particularly where the treatment of women is concerned.
Fancy hotels and meetings in palaces cannot replace the sense of home.
Malala Yousafzai
Let us pick up our books and pencils. They are our most powerful weapons.
Malala Yousafzai
Free as a bird,
Malala Yousafzai
We are told that Swat is being sacrificed for the sake of Pakistan, but no one and nothing should be sacrificed for the state. A state is like a mother, and a mother never deserts or cheats her children.
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 that man never went to the moon.
