Eboo Patel Quotes

#1. The question of how people orient around religion differently, or interact with one another, whether that be based on conflict or cooperation, will be one of the most engaging questions of the 21st century.

Eboo Patel

#2. I as a Muslim believe deeply in the differences that are within Islam. But I also take seriously the idea that we have to come to know one another.

Eboo Patel

#3. Finding Mecca in America weaves social theory and concrete ethnography into a significant contribution on Muslims in the United States, illuminating broader questions about the integration of minority and immigrant groups along the way. This is an important work and a joy to read.

Eboo Patel

#4. Religious extremists want to show us that the only possibility is for us to kill each other, so September 11 is not only heinous murder, it is also global performance. It is also putting an idea into the world, an idea of destruction.

Eboo Patel

#5. A social entrepreneur is somebody who knows how to make an idea reality.

Eboo Patel

#6. What we pluralists have to do is to say to the people standing on the faith line, particularly the young ones, no, pluralism is the wish of the creator. It is the greatest opportunity for humanity.

Eboo Patel

#7. Have big dreams but focus only on what you can control: your own thoughts, words and actions. This was Gandhi's way ... in the words of Buddhist poet Gary Snyder, our job is to move the world a millionth of an inch.

Eboo Patel

#8. One of the best ways of showing pluralism in action is for people to do service together, and that has so many benefits.

Eboo Patel

#9. We have to build bridges that are stronger than the bombs that other people might throw

Eboo Patel

#10. Show me a religion that doesn't care about compassion. Show me a religion that doesn't care about stewardship of the environment. Show me a religion that doesn't care about hospitality.

Eboo Patel

#11. To see the other side, to defend another people, not despite your tradition but because of it, is the heart of pluralism

Eboo Patel

#12. I thought about the meaning of pluralism in a world where the forces that seek to divide us are strong. I came to one conclusion: We have to save each other. It's the only way to save ourselves.

Eboo Patel