My father always says that heroism is in the Pashtun DNA.

I want to just stay focused on my mission. That is to see every girl get the right to education. And I think this is such an important thing that girls get their right to go to school, and we are losing the potential that these young girls have in this region, like Iraq.

In the future, women, rather than men, will be the ones to change the world.

And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

I want world leaders to choose books over bullets...We can afford to give every girl 12 years of free education. It is absolutely in our power, and when we do, we will realize a whole new world of possibility.

This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa.

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.