I'd rather be dealt with as a person than a persona.

Learning to read and write changes lives; it means jobs, money, health, and dreams fulfilled.

When girls are educated, you get effects that cascade throughout society.

First of all, in many Muslim countries women have incredible amounts of freedom, sometimes more than in some countries in Europe. So you cannot just make a generalized statement about women. Second, Islam is not the problem. It's tradition. It's culture. It's age-old mind-sets that need to be changed.

Of course democracy is good, but it is a process, not a prescription.

Twitter's a great way to tell people across the world what I care about and, hopefully, motivate them to join me in furthering my causes. It's also a fantastic medium to hear the ideas and opinions of people I might not otherwise get to meet.

To achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East takes guts, not guns.