Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Stuns Jon Stewart

17-year-old Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (along with Kailash Satyarthi) this week. She is the remarkable young woman who was shot in the head when she was 14 by a Taliban soldier as payback for demanding an education. She recovered and was undeterred–even galvanized by the violence against her. She published the extraordinary “I Am Malala” and has been a tireless–and unlikely–worldwide ambassador for children’s education. Jon Stewart interviewed the imperturbable Yousafzai last year. He told her he was “honestly humbled” to meet her. Maybe it’s because she takes the turn the other cheek philosophy and makes it reality. Here’s what she said to Stewart when asked what she would do if the Taliban came to harm her:

“I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, ‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.’ Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that ‘I even want education for your children as well.’ And I will tell him, ‘That’s what I want to tell you, now do what you want.'”