I reassured my mother that it didn’t matter to me if my face was not symmetrical. Me, who had always cared about my appearance, how my hair looked! But when you see death, things change. “It doesn’t matter if I can’t smile or blink properly,” I told her. “I’m still me, Malala. The important thing is God has given me my life.

I have a new dream I must be a politician to save this country. There are so many crises in our country. I want to remove these crises.

Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

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.

My goal is to get peace and my goal is to see education of every child.

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

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.'