People ask me, what special is in my mentorship which has made Malala so bold and so courageous and so vocal and poised? I tell them, don't ask me what I did. Ask me what I did not do. I did not clip her wings, and that's all.
Education is not simply to learn to read and write. It's emancipation. It makes you free.
Education is power. It is just like a light in complete darkness.
Honour your daughters, trust them and most importantly, educate them.
Trust your daughters, they are faithful. Honor your daughters, they are honorable. Educate your daughters, they are amazing.
When in many societies, fathers are usually known by their sons, I am one of the few fathers who is known by his daughter, and I'm proud of it.
You may think I'm brave. But in the eyes of many people back in my country I am a coward. They think, this man gave so much freedom to his daughter, he broke all the traditions of our society.
Take the example of my daughter. A lot of people were speaking out about education when the Taliban were bombing schools in Swat Valley, but Malala's voice was like a crescendo. It spread all around the world. She was the smallest but her voice was the biggest, because she was speaking for herself.
I did not clip the wings of my daughter to fly.
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.
She became a very famous, very popular young girl. Before that, she was my daughter, but now I'm her father.
The world turned into a big black hole while my daughter was on the verge of life and death.
When people hear my daughter and when they know about her wisdom and maturity, they think that her father must have been sitting with her and mentoring her. They think he would have spent a lot of time in bringing her up. They think he would have constructed her.
On his daughter Malala Yousafzai: She was very articulate, more than me. She could say things in a very few words that I take a long time to communicate.
On his daughter Malala Yousafzai: When she was very small I used to say to her, 'tell me Malala, how is the school going?' And she'd say 'it is so-so, you should change this and this...' I trusted her wisdom.
When the voice of truth rises from the minarets, the Buddha smiles, and the broken chain of history reconnects.
A good girl is supposed to be very quiet
