His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, the Mawlana Hazar Imam of the Ismaili community along with pluralism, volunteerism, and charity work also focuses on education. Today we will discuss about top 12 inspirational and motivational quotes of Sir Aga Khan IV (49th imam) which can influence any person of the world.
Aga Khan’s Most Inspirational Quotes
When people are talking about an inevitable “clash of civilizations” these days in our world, what I hear often, I fear, is an inevitable “clash of religions”. But I would use a completely different terminology. The essential problem, in my opinion, in the relations between the Muslim world and the West is “A shock of ignorance”. And what I would recommend, as an essential first step, is a concentrated educational effort.
H.H Prince Karim Aga Khan
There are those … who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless these unfortunates can be touched by the spark that ignites individual entrepreneurship and determination, they will only sink into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is up to us, who are more fortunate, to provide this spark.
Aga Khan IV
If our animosities are born of fear, then generosity is born of hope. One of the main lessons I learned after half a century of working in developing countries is that replacing fear with hope is probably the most powerful springboard of progress.
Aga Khan IV
Tolerance, openness and understanding of cultures, social structures, values and beliefs of other peoples are now essential to the very survival of an interdependent world.
H. Highness Aga Khan IV
There is nothing wrong with being good as long as money has social and ethical value and is not the object of greed itself.
Aga Khan IV
If you struggle to keep social and cultural development ahead of economic development, it will not work. You must do everything together.
Aga Khan IV
None of these situations are identical. You can not take one set of problems from one country and apply it to another. All are different, in terms of the history and religious composition of the populations concerned.
Prince Karim Aga Khan IV
My grandfather was a very talented person and among his many qualities, one of them had always impressed me. While the past was a book I had read and re-read many times, the future was just another literary work of art in which it was thrown with deep reflection and concentration. Since his death countless people have told me how he read in the future, and it was certainly one of his great strengths.
Aga Khan IV
There are those who … enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless these unfortunates can be touched by the spark that ignites individual entrepreneurship and determination, they will only sink into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is up to us, who are more fortunate, to provide this spark.
Aga Khan IV
The authority of anyone to hope is the most powerful human motivation I know.
H. Highness Aga Khan IV
True dialogue requires not only that we formulate a perspective, but also that we listen carefully to other perspectives. More than that, he asks us not only to listen to us, but also to learn from each other.
Aga Khan IV
But wealth is not everything that matters. Our religion teaches us that a spirit of humility and devotion is of primary importance. They must work together with mutual patience and respect. Only then will we achieve the harmony and happiness necessary for the true progress of our faith.
H. Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan
Inspirational Speech Of Aga Khan On Importance of Education
The Aga Khan also believes that education must play an important role in conflict management, especially in identities. He argued that schools play an important role in teaching pluralism. A fundamental principle of pluralism is the recognition that the diversity of interpretations of gender, ethnicity, and religion is a fact of existence.
We must, therefore, explore how these differences divide and unite us. In the context of patriarchy, for example, gender-based social divisions mean that men hold a privileged position in society and that women suffer when they are considered less than men. A thoughtful commitment to pluralism would require us to understand how gender divisions are created and maintained and to mitigate the negative and oppressive effects of these divisions.
Teaching pluralism in school involves understanding how human differences shape societies. It is not a matter of erasing differences, but of discovering policies, institutions, and practices through which we can live together in harmony, without giving up our specificities. As Aga Khan points out, what is needed is “a willingness to go beyond the boundaries of distinction and distance without trying to erase them”.
