The ’fires’n that produce thick, rarely innocent, often strategic smoke should therefore be scrutinized. they should be known and identified; and when they involve dishonesty, lies, or manipulation, they they should be ignored.
The most dangerous prisons are those with invisible bars.
If you are not at peace with yourself then you cannot spread peace.
Religious symbols should be visible in public space, in a dignified and non-provocative manner. Christmas trees here, Jewish menorahs there and, further along, a minaret – these symbols represent human life in all its diversity.
The diversity is the risk of war, the necessity of diversity is mutual respect.
Only in the crucible of self-mastery can freedom be smelted.
Mankind must be positively and constructively wary of mankind, of their fellow man, of their families, of the members of their faith community, of their fellow-citizens.
The universe is pregnant with signs that recall the presence of the Creator.
It is only through the opposition of ideas that we can learn to be self-critical, to work towards intellectual humility.
Our democratic societies are in danger. In allowing ourselves to be infiltrated by fear, to be blinded by the passion of identity, we are entertaining the most serious illusions about our freedom.
This simple truth is the essence of my message to Muslims throughout the world: know who you are, who you want to be, and start talking and working with whom you are not. Find common values and build with fellow citizens a society based on diversity and equality.
History is replete with ideologies of freedom, justice, liberation of the downtrodden and the exploited, that have been turned against the very people they had mobilised, or that have reproduced the same logic of exclusion and terror toward those whom they claimed to set free.
We must delve deep into history the better to engage a true dialogue of civilisations. Fear of the present can impose upon the past its own biased vision.
Culture constitutes an essential element of social and political liberation. As people rise up across the Middle East and North Africa, the diversity of their cultures is not only the means but also the ultimate goal of their liberation and their freedom.
Your sensitivity is power. Don’t let people transform your qualities into weaknesses.
If you know how to live, even death is good news.
Political rhetoric leads only to confusion.
My experience of living with people of diverse religions and cultures taught me that one will never be at peace with the other if one is at war with oneself.
The universality of Islam is not uniformity, it is unity with diversity.
Many times I have asked Muslim women not to nurture the victim mentality. stand up for your rights.