Nujood Ali: "Marriage was invented to..."

"Marriage was invented to make girls miserable. I will never get married again, not ever again."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "Without saying a word..."

"Without saying a word, we both know that at this moment we are insanely happy."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "Compared to dreams, reality..."

"Compared to dreams, reality can be truly cruel. But it can also come up with beautiful surprises."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "She, on whom life..."

"She, on whom life had not smiled, had always shown compassion for those even less well off than she was."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "Life is really weird..."

"Life is really weird - it's not just bad people who spread misery, even pretty things can be hurtful. So hard to understand."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "My life was taking..."

"My life was taking a new turn in this world of grown-ups, where dreams no longer had a place, faces became masks, and no one seemed to care about me."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "I kept hearing my..."

"I kept hearing my father's words in my mind: one less mouth. So that's all I was to him, a burden..."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "Omma gave birth to..."

"Omma gave birth to me the way she delivered all her children: at home, lying on a woven mat, sweating, suffering terribly, and begging God to protect her newborn."

—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Nujood Ali: "I'd like so much..."

"I'd like so much for someone here to take my hand, to look at me with kindness."


—Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced