In a stunning, must-watch interview on The Daily Show, Malala Yousafzai showed Jon Stewart and the world just what kind of girl she is — a model of compassion toward the people who tried to kill her.
The 16-year-old Pakistani girl was Stewart’s featured guest on Tuesday night, and she wowed his audience with her wisdom and spirit of peace exactly one year after being shot by the Taliban because of her views of women’s education. She explained to Stewart that it wasn’t until education was taken away from her that she realized its value.
“We are human beings, and this is the part of our human nature, that we don’t learn the importance of anything until it’s snatched from our hands,” Yousafzai said.
After learning about the hit the terrorist group had placed on her, Yousafzai developed a response for if a member of the Taliban came to kill her. At first, she decided she would strike the hitman with her shoe.
“But then I said, ‘If you hit the Talib with your shoe, then there will be no difference between you and the Talib,'” she told Stewart. “You must not treat others that much with cruelty and that much harshly. You might fight others, but through peace and through dialogue and through education.”
Stewart looked absolutely stunned at her explanation, and the audience cheered. The host then asked if he could adopt Yousafzai.
“You sure are swell,” he told her.
Watch the amazing interview below:
