15 Powerful Malala Quotes from I Am Malala

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Excerpt: In October of 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban and lived. These 15 quotes from I Am Malala are incredibly powerful.

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Introduction: Who is Malala?

Malala Yousafzai is a remarkable young women who knows how to keep moving forward in spite of dire and unfair circumstances. She was born into a culture where women were predetermined to a life of obedience and servitude and had very limited freedoms.

When she was ten, the Taliban entered her hometown (Mingora, Pakistan) and turned her beautiful valley into a war zone. They controlled all forms of media, closed schools, raided houses, kidnapped women, shut down businesses, made bonfires of Books, CDs, DVDs, TVs, Computers, etc., publicly whipped and beat ‘disobedient’ people, blew up buildings, museums, and houses, and murdered resisting forces.

Both Malala and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, stood up and spoke out against the wrong-doings and evil that the Taliban were bringing to their world – especially to the rights of continued education for all. Ziauddin was a school owner and Malala quickly learned the significance of a good education in her life and future. It wasn’t long until they both became targets of the Taliban.

Then, on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 Malala almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. She was fifteen years old.

Her memoir, I Am Malala goes deeper into her story and shines a light on a young girl with amazing strength who stands up for what is right in the face darkness and always finds a way to keep moving forward despite extraordinarily tough times. Below, I have included 15 powerful quotes from I Am Malala with their page numbers from the 2013 Edition of her book that moved me to share her story with you. I hope you find inspiration from her words and agree to join her movement. Enjoy!

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The List: 15 Powerful Malala Quotes from I Am Malala:

“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.” ~

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 13)

“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, I Am Malala (Page 6)

“Education had been a great gift for him [Ziauddin]. He believed that lack of education was the root of all the Pakistan’s problems. Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be reelected. He believed schooling should be available for all, rich and poor, boys and girls.”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 41)

“I think everyone makes a mistake at least once in their life. The important thing is what you learn from it. That’s why I have problems with our Pashtunwali code. We are supposed to take revenge for wrongs done to us, but where does that end? If a man in one family is killed or hurt by another man, revenge must be exacted to restore nang (honor).”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 72)

“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, I Am Malala (Page 124)

“My father would say to me, ‘Any organization which works for peace, I will join. If you want to resolve a dispute or come out from conflict, the very first thing is to speak the truth. If you have a headache and tell the doctor you have a stomachache, how can the doctor help? You must speak the truth. The truth will abolish fear.'”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 139)

“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, I Am Malala (Page 146)

“As we crossed the Malakand Pass I saw a young girl selling oranges. She was scratching marks on a piece of paper with a pencil to account for the oranges she had sold, as she could not read or write. I took a photo of her and vowed I would do everything in my power to help educate girls just like her. This was the war I was going to fight.”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 217)

“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, I Am Malala (Page 224)

“My father was convinced the Taliban would hunt him down and kill him, but he again refused security from the police. ‘If you go around with a lot of security the Taliban will use Kalashnikovs or suicide bombers and more people will be killed,’ he said. ‘At least I’ll be killed alone.'”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 233)

“She explained that the bullet had entered through the side of my left eye where there was a scar, traveled eighteen inches down to my left shoulder and stopped there. It could have taken out my eye or gone into my brain. It was a miracle I was alive.”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 282)

“We human beings don’t realize how great God is. He has given us an extraordinary brain and a sensitive loving heart. He has blessed us with two lips to talk and express our feelings, two eyes which see a world of colors and beauty, two feet which walk on the road of life, two hands to work for us, a nose which smells the beauty of fragrance, and two ears to hear the words of love.”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 300)

“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, I Am Malala (Page 309)

“‘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.'”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 310)

“Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country – this is my dream. Education for every boy and every girl in the world. 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.”

Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala (Page 313)

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Watch: Ziauddin Yousafzai – My daughter, Malala (16min TED Talk)

Donate:  To the Malala Fund and Help Empower Girls Around the World.

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If you enjoyed these quotes from I Am Malala then you’ll certainly enjoy reading her book in full.  It comes highly recommended.