وَالعِلْمُ يَرْفَعُ كُلَّ مَنْ لَمْ يُرْفَعِ
Transliteration: wal-`ilmu yarfa`u kulla man lam yurfa`
Literal translation:
“Knowledge raises all those who have not been raised”
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
“pocas cosas marcan tanto a un lector como el primer libro que realmente se abre camino hasta su corazón. Aquellas primeras imágenes, el eco de esas palabras que creemos haber dejado atrás, nos acompañan toda la vida y esconden un palacio en nuestra memoria al que, tarde o temprano –no importa cuántos libros leamos, cuántos mundos descubramos, cuánto aprendamos u olvidemos–, vamos a regresar.”
Translation by Lucia Graves: “few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return”
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, in La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind)
“We are moving into a new epoch of history, a new condition of human life. Many observers describe this new world as the “Knowledge Society” – contrasting it with the Industrial Societies or the Agricultural Societies of the past. In this new era, the predominant source of influence will stem from information, intelligence and insight rather than physical power or natural resources... That will mean embracing the values of collaboration and coordination, openness and partnership, choice and diversity – which will under-gird the Knowledge Society, learning constantly to review and revise and renew what we think we know – learning how to go on learning. The spirit of the Knowledge Society is the spirit of Pluralism – a readiness to accept the Other, indeed to learn from him, to see difference as an opportunity rather than a threat.”
His Highness the Aga Khan, Chancellor of the Aga Khan University
Address to the Aga Khan University 2006 Convocation
“la lecture est une amitié”
Literal translation: "reading is a friendship"
Marcel Proust
