Kailash Satyarthi Quotes

I am thankful to the Nobel committee for recognising the plight of millions of children who are suffering in this modern age.

I think of it all as a test. This is a moral examination that one has to pass ... to stand up against such social evils

Denial of childhood and denial of freedom are the biggest sins which humankind has been committing and perpetuating for ages.

We talk of globalization, and how much money is needed for the education of children in the world, their liberation and rehabilitation just $9 billion which is four days of military expense. Just four days. Nine billion dollars is nothing. But what Americans spent on ice cream just 20 percent of this. One fifth of what you spend on ice creams could bring the children out of the clutches of their masters and put them to school.

I refuse to accept that the world is so poor, when just one week of global spending on armies is enough to bring all of our children into classrooms.

Economic growth and human development need to go hand in hand. Human values need to be advocated vigorously.

As the anti-slavery community, we must together ensure that this attention is transferred into concrete action and results.

There is a triangular relationship between poverty, child labour and illiteracy who have a cause and consequence relationship. We will have to break this vicious circle.

There is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children.

Child labor perpetuates poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population growth, and other social problems.

I am positive that I would see the end of child labour around the world in my lifetime, as the poorest of the poor have realised that education is a tool that can empower them.

At about an age when most children start full time schooling, hundreds of thousands of their contemporaries start a lifetime of drudgery in factories and fields, working 12-16 hours daily.

I have come here only to share the voices and dreams of our children - because they are all our children.

Elimination of child labour and access to education are like two sides of one coin. One cannot be achieved without the other.

The biggest challenge or biggest crisis knocking on the doors of humankind is fear and intolerance.

Childhood means simplicity. Look at the world with the child's eye - it is very beautiful.

I have been very strongly advocating that poverty must not be used as an excuse to continue child labour. It perpetuates poverty. If children are deprived of education, they remain poor.

We still have a soft approach on the perpetrators of crimes like worst forms of child labour.

The fight against child slavery is the fight against traditional mindset, policy deficit, and lack of accountability and urgency for children across the globe.

The single aim of my life is that every child is:
free to be a child,
free to grow and develop,
free to eat, sleep, see daylight,
free to laugh and cry,
free to play,
free to learn, free to go to school, and above all, free to dream.

I am representing here - the sound of silence. The cry of innocence. And, the face of invisibility. I represent millions of those children who are left behind, and that's why I have kept an empty chair here as a reminder.

Today, in every wave of every ocean, I see our children playing and dancing. Today, in every plant, tree, and mountain, I see our children growing in freedom.

First of all, everyone must acknowledge and feel that child slavery still exists in the world, in its ugliest face and form. And this is an evil, which is crime against humanity, which is intolerable, which is unacceptable and which must go. That sense of recognition must be developed first of all. And secondly there is a need of higher amounts of political will. There is a need of higher amount of corporate engagement, and the engagement of the public towards it. So, everybody has a responsibility to save and protect the children on this planet.

If not now, then when? If not you, then who? If we are able to answer these fundamental questions, then perhaps we can wipe away the blot of human slavery.

I dream for a world which is free of child labour, a world in which every child goes to school. A world in which every child gets his rights.

More than 30 years ago, when I had embarked upon the fight against child labour, it was not even considered an issue worth any discussion. It was accepted as a way of life in India, much like it was in other countries. Today, no country or business or society can throw this issue away.

I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom.

World's children cannot wait any longer. While international community debates and issues recommendations, statements and fine speeches, world's children - marginalised, socially excluded, poor and vulnerable - continue to suffer.

We as the governments, workers, employers and civil society must declare a war on child labour. This war cannot be won without strong, committed, coherent, and well-resourced worldwide movement. Equally needed is a genuine and active coordination between intergovernmental agencies at the highest level.

India may be a land of over a 100 problems, but it is also a place for a billion solutions.

My philosophy is that I am a friend of the children. I don't think anyone should see them as pitiable subjects or charity. That is old people's rhetoric. People often relate childish behaviour to stupidity or foolishness. This mindset needs to change. I want to level the playing field where I can learn from the children. Something I can learn from children is transparency. They are innocent, straightforward, and have no biases. I relate children to simplicity and I think that my friendship with children has a much deeper meaning than others.

We adults, our policies, our ways of governance, are responsible for poverty, not the children.

Equity is compromised due to the privatisation of education. Education has become a commodity. Those who can afford to buy it, buy it, and those who can sell it make money out of it

Let us democratise knowledge. Let us universalise justice. Together, let us globalise compassion!

I never go to temples, but when I see a child, I see God in them.

For centuries, we were taught that anger is bad. Our parents, teachers, priests, everyone taught us how to control and suppress our anger. But I ask: why can't we convert our anger for the larger good of society?

From my own experience, I want to say that you should follow your heart, and the mind will follow you. Believe in yourself, and you will create miracles.

Let us unite the world through the compassion for our children.

Each time I free a child, I feel it is something closer to God.

I am really honoured, but if the prize had gone to Mahatma Gandhi before me, I would have been more honoured.