His Highness the Aga Khan: “It [Sura of Light] tells us that the oil of the blessed olive tree lights the lamp of understanding…”

Kindle the candle of intellect in your heart and hasten with it to the world of brightness.
Nasir-i Khusraw

Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
Socrates

Knowledge is like a candle. Even as it lights a new candle, the strength of the original flame is not diminished.
Thomas Jefferson

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it.
Winston Churchill

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Buddha

Your Highness,
…..The candle aflame symbolizes not only enlightenment but also the transmission of learning from one person to another. When I light my candle from the flame of yours, your light is not diminished. Just the opposite: the light from both our candles shines brighter on all around us.
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada
Extract from his letter to His Highness the Aga Khan published in The Idea of Canada, Letters to a Nation, Signal/McClelland & Stewart, 2016

As we work towards … the future we will remember the  Sura of Light from the Qur’an. It tells us that the oil of the blessed olive tree lights the lamp of understanding, a light that belongs neither to the East nor West. We are to give this light to all. In that spirit, all that we learn will belong to the world and that…is part of the vision I share with you.
His Highness the Aga Khan
Asia Society, New York, December 25, 1979
Speech at AKDN Press Centre

Compiled by Nimira Dewji