Quotes from Kailash Satyarthi

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Child slavery is a crime against humanity. Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still remains, but I will see the end of child labor in my lifetime.

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.

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

If you keep on buying things made by child slaves in such conditions, you are equally responsible for the perpetration of slavery.

Learning from the experiences of our ancestors, let us together create knowledge for all that benefits all.

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

I call for a march from exploitation to education, from poverty to shared prosperity, a march from slavery to liberty, and a march from violence to peace.

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.

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

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

Today, I see thousands of Mahatma Gandhis, Martin Luther Kings, and Nelson Mandelas marching forward and calling on us. The boys and girls have joined. I have joined in. We ask you to join, too.

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.

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.

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.

Today it is time for every child to have a right to life, right to freedom, right to health, right to education, safety, the right to dignity, right to equality, and right to peace.

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

For me, peace is a fundamental human right of every child; it is inevitable and divine.