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The question

If you could put a message on a giant billboard, what would it say and why?
Malala Yousafzai

Education campaigner; co-founder of the Malala Fund; United Nations Messenger of Peace

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Why is it that countries which we call strong are so powerful in creating wars but are so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it, why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so hard?

Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 10 December 2014 source ↗

2 versions

Earlier wording is kept rather than replaced. This is the record of how the answer moved, not evidence that it should not have.

  1. Version 1 superseded 28 Aug 2026
    Why is it that countries which we call strong" are so powerful in creating wars but are so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it, why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so hard?
  2. Version 2 Current

    Corrected against the source.

    Why is it that countries which we call strong are so powerful in creating wars but are so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it, why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so hard?

Others on this question

View all 25 →
Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany, 2005–2021; Leader of the Christian Democratic Union 2000–2018
Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness, for nothing has to stay as it is.
Recorded Tercentenary Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Harvard Gazette, Harvard University, 30 May 2019 source ↗
Martin Luther King Jr. Baptist minister; President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1957–1968
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.
Recorded Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, 4 February 1968 source ↗
Aung San Suu Kyi Leader of the National League for Democracy; Nobel Peace Prize laureate; State Counsellor of Myanmar, 2016–2021
As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many.
Recorded Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 16 June 2012 source ↗
Abby Wambach United States international footballer, 2001–2015
GIVE ME THE RESPECT I'VE EARNED AND GIVE IT TO MY WOLF PACK TOO.
Recorded Barnard College commencement address, Radio City Music Hall, New York, Speakola, 16 May 2018 source ↗

More from Malala Yousafzai

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Question What is one of the best investments you have made — of money, time, or energy? Money & investment
Her story is why I dedicate the Nobel Peace Prize money to the Malala Fund, to help give girls quality education, everywhere, anywhere in the world and to raise their voices. The first place this funding will go to is where my heart is, to build schools in Pakistan—especially in my home of Swat and Shangla.
Recorded Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 10 December 2014 source ↗

More on time & hindsight

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