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

In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life. But in other part of the world, we are starving for education... it's like a precious gift. It's like a diamond.

I thought that words and books and pens were more powerful than guns.

I have the right of education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up.

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

Outside his office my father had a framed copy of a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to his son's teacher, translated into Pashto. It is a very beautiful letter, full of good advice. Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books...But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside, it says. Teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.

Books are a better investment in our future than bullets. Books, not bullets, will pave the path towards peace and prosperity.