Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist who, at just 15 years old, was shot in the head by the Taliban for her outspoken advocacy for girls' education. After miraculously surviving the attack, she has continued to speak out about the importance of education for all children, regardless of gender.
In October of 2012, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala went on to write the bestselling book I Am Malala and co-founded the Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides girls with access to quality education. She graduated from Oxford University in 2020.
Malala’s courage and conviction have made her a global symbol of resilience and hope, and she continues to work tirelessly towards ensuring that all children have access to education. Her story is an inspiration to us all.
Since 2013, the world has honored Malala's dedication to education by celebrating Malala Day every year on July 12th.
We've collected her best quotes about education, bravery, and fighting for what's right:
The Best Malala Yousafzai Quotes
Famous Inspiring Quotes
“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“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
On Feminism
“We must tell girls their voices are important.”
— 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.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“I remember when my friends and I would decorate our hands with henna on special occasions. And instead of drawing flowers and patterns, we would paint our hands with mathematical formulas and equations.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize Lecture.
“In Pakistan when women say they want independence, people think this means we don’t want to obey our fathers, brothers, or husbands. But it does not mean that. It means we want to make decisions for ourselves. We want to be free to go to school or to go to work. Nowhere is it written in the Quran that a woman should be dependent on a man. The word has not come down from the heavens to tell us that every woman should listen to a man.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize Lecture
“I had one hope for today: that Afghan girls walking to school would not be sent back home. But the Taliban did not keep their promise. They will keep finding excuses to stop girls from learning — because they are afraid of educated girls and empowered women.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in a tweet.
“All we are asking is for girls to be able to go to school, for women to be safer... we are not asking for a privilege, these are like basic human rights.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in a interview for BBC Politics.
Related: The best quotes to empower women — by women
Related: The best quotes for Women’s History Month and quotes for International Women’s Day
On Education
“Education is one of the blessings of life — and one of its necessities.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize Lecture.
“Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“The extremists are afraid of books and pens, the power of education frightens them. they are afraid of women.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“I don't want revenge on the Taliban, I want education for sons and daughters of the Taliban.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“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.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“When someone takes away your pens you realize quite how important education is.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“I truly believe the only way we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds, but our hearts and our souls.”
— 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.”
— Malala Yousafzai, before her murder attempt.
On Leadership
“I raise up my voice — not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard... we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“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?”
— Malala Yousafzai
“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
“I had two options. One was to remain silent and wait to be killed. And the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize Lecture.
On Bravery
“We were scared, but our fear was not as strong as our courage.”
— 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.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“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
“At night our fear is strong... but in the morning, in the light, we find our courage again.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Don’t be afraid — if you are afraid you can’t move forward.”
— Malala Yousafzai
→ Read more quotes about bravery and courage
On the Nobel Peace Prize
“This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want an education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change.
I am here to stand up for their rights, to raise their voice... it is not time to pity them. It is time to take action so it becomes the last time that we see a child deprived of education.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture.
“As far as I know, I am just a committed and even stubborn person who wants to see every child getting quality education, who wants to see women having equal rights, and who wants peace in every corner of the world.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture.
“I am those 66 million girls who are deprived of education. And today I am not raising my voice, it is the voice of those 66 million girls.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture.
“In my own village, there is still no secondary school for girls. And it is my wish and my commitment, and now my challenge to build one so that my friends and my sisters can go to school there and get a quality education and get this opportunity to fulfill their dreams. This is where I will begin, but it is not where I will stop. I will continue this fight until I see every child in school.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture.
“Why is it that countries which we call “strong” are so powerful in creating wars but are so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so hard?”
— Malala Yousafzai, in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture.
Short Quotes
“If one man can destroy everything, why can't one girl change it?”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Life isn't just about taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“If people were silent nothing would change.”
— Malala Yousafzai
More I Am Malala Quotes
“Kindness can only be repaid with kindness. It can’t be repaid with expressions like ‘thank you’ and then forgotten.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“I think everyone makes a mistake at least once in their life. The important thing is what you learn from it.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn’t stop our minds from thinking.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“There's nothing special about me. The only thing that’s different in my story is that my father did not stop me.”
— Malala Yousafzai, in an interview with The Economist.
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality.”
— Malala Yousafzai
