"I've always been quite fair in complexion. If I wear green, it does not suit me. It's one of these things in life that I cannot explain. It just is."

"I'm 65; I couldn't just wear a normal suit, a nice shirt and tie. Because I don't want to look that old - I want to look at least 10 years younger."

"I started with nothing and built something, and one day it will finish, and something new will come out of it."

"So you do need to make a plan for the next three or 30 years, but also the next 300 or 3,000 years."

"...there is no accessible luxury. There is no aspirational luxury. It’s either luxury or not luxury."

"In the winter on a Sunday afternoon, I can spend six hours in front of the fireplace, just looking at the flames and thinking. In the evening, I’m drunk with beautiful thoughts. My wife says to me, ‘What are you looking at?’ I say, ‘The fire.’ We have to take a step backward."

"While things rest, the world regenerates."

"I have 5,000 books in my home, 1,000 of which I feel are close to my heart. They have always shown me the way. Books are my great passion; I could not live without them."

"If you are a dickhead you will still be a dickhead after tertiary education."

"I used to always get up at 5 A.M., but now I force myself to stay in bed until 6."

"It is never challenging when you only do one thing in life. It is difficult to do everything, but if you specialise in one thing, you can focus with your head bent over one single thing the whole day and you have less likelihood of getting things wrong."

"Dignity generates responsibility, responsibility generates creativity."

"But with a phone call I can understand your mood, your emotions. With an email I can’t. When speaking I can understand if you have a problem in an instant. I understand your fear. But I can begin to cultivate a hope with you."

"I nearly always wear almost the very same things. But I alter the combinations slightly."

"I believe that there are three things in life that you must absolutely do yourself because nobody can do it in your place: keeping fit, following a diet, and accumulating culture."

"Mankind is becoming more ethical, but it is not happening because man has decided to become better than he was 100 years ago. It’s because we know we live in a glass house where everybody can see."

"We need a new form of capitalism, a contemporary form of capitalism. I would like to add “humanistic” to that equation."

"We have now swapped information for knowledge, which is not the same thing. I do not want to know."

"Since the very beginning, I have had this dream of living and working for the dignity of mankind."

"We must start from the joy of life, from respect, from humanity, because the most important thing in life is having respect for other people. Especially for those who might think very differently from you."

"I myself can wear joggers, a good pair of sneakers, then maybe a sweatshirt, and on top of it all, a blazer. That's what makes a difference in luxury terms."

"Man needs dignity even more than he needs bread."

"...every human being has an amount of genius in them."

"If you have 1,000 people, you have 1,000 geniuses. They’re just different kinds of genius and a different degree of intensity."

"Rencontre avec le plus grand collectionneur du monde, Nasser David Khalili, collectionneur de légende” (Meeting with the Greatest Collector in the world – Nasser D Khalili, legendary collector)"

"My Dear David, what can I say - here stands a Galileo. I have known you for many years when the late holy father Pope John Paul II of blessed memory created you a knight of St. Sylvester. I said of you at that time, if you remember, that you had in one person the great wisdom of 3 religious leaders, a Chief Rabbi, a Cardinal and a Grand Mufti. This is true then and it's true today."

"Like most great philanthropists, he is passionate but there is a certain timeless wisdom about him too."

"Nasser D. Khalili lives, thinks and breathes art. For him life and art are noble and inseparable. Nobody believes more in the healing power of art and the lessons we can learn from it."

"Professor Khalili’s contribution to the world of art and culture is unparalleled, and for him to be called the Medici of the 21st century is no exaggeration."

"We salute you Prof. Khalili, for enabling us to stage this unique exhibition"

"I highly value the efforts of Professor Nasser Khalili and what he has done to promote this valuable cultural heritage, to care for it and to preserve it, and to present it to current and future generations so that all who see it will learn about the brilliance of the notable and deeply-rooted Islamic civilization."

"David is passionate about the cause of peace and has made a remarkable contribution to improving dialogue, understanding and respect between those of different faiths. I have discussed these issues with David many times over the years and it is his dedication to the cause ad his rational and compassionate thinking that has always been apparent."

"…the appreciation of all the Zuloaga descendants [goes] to Prof Khalili… for this superb collection of damascene art, and… for having given the world the opportunity to admire the works, not only of the Zuloagas, but of all the Basque artisans like them."

"Today I am speechless and proud to be Japanese"

"The main reason for the exhibition of Wonders of Imperial Japan at the Van Gogh Museum was its connection to Van Gogh's painting. It was Van Gogh who said I his letter to his brother Theo in 1888 "In a way all my work is founded on Japanese art""

"…A landmark in the study of nineteenth century Spanish decorative art."

"The Khalili Collection `Enamels Of The World 1700 – 2000’, which includes spectacular masterpieces from all the major centres of enameling, is pioneering in its focused study of the subject. Unique in its scope, the Collection reveals the remarkable technical achievements of the enamellers and encourages a greater awareness of the range of their activity. For these reasons I was convinced that the first public showing of the Collection should take place in the galleries of the State Hermitage Museums in St Petersburg"

"At that time we could not have guessed the existence of Professor Khalili’s collection… a feat which could not possibly be duplicated or even approached by any museum in the world today…"

"Many items in the Nasser D. Khalili collection are completely unique - without parallel in museums let alone the market. It is a collection that would be impossible to recreate."

"The Khalili collection of Meiji art of Japan is only comparable as acknowledged by many scholars and museum directors, in terms of quality and size to the collection of the Japanese Imperial family"

"The Khalili Collection of Haji and the Arts of Pilgrimage (700-2000) ranks in importance alongside the collections of the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul, and includes major objects, many of which are unique and irreplaceable and have no parallel in any other collection, private or public."

"I wish to thank one of our most dynamic UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors, Professor Nasser D Khalili, for his passion and unfailing commitment to the values of heritage. He has spent considerable time and effort safeguarding Islamic heritage and is now the custodian of the largest group of objects related to the Holy City of Makkah."

"An unparalleled Art Collector"

"Giving exhibitions is like throwing a drop into an ocean. Any contribution to the enhancement of the understanding of Islamic culture adds to that ocean, which I call the ocean of understanding. The greatest and one of the strongest bridges between cultures is the one that is built out of art. Religion and politics have their own dialects. The language of art is universal. There you are safe. Nobody can label you."

"Finally, money is just paper. My loyalty is to the objects; to be hnoest, I really don't care about the financial side of it too much. People forget that whenever you are faced with a masterpiece, the day you pay for it it may be a bit expensive, but if you wait one month, two months, six months, then it becomes terribly cheap."

"If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't assemble his collection now"

"Art is a universal language that can unite the hearts of mankind, crossing all frontiers, penetrating everywhere. The moment has come for the 'people of the book' - Jews, Christians, Muslims - to speak openly to one another and to see clearly the close cultural, social, spiritual and intellectual ties that have existed between them for centuries. In fact, Jews and Muslims are cousins, and I believe it is far better for us to live together in peace and harmony, than die together in disgrace"

"During the collecting, I don't say anything. When it's done, then I speak."

"My very, very first purchase was when I was about 12 or 13. My father used to take me wherever he went buying or selling anything from the age of eight, because amongst my other sisters and brothers I was the only one who showed interest. We bought ordinary things like Persian lacquer to start with. Many years later I did my PhD on Persian lacquer"

"I used to buy a group of objects -- let's say, 10 objects for $US100,000 -- keep 3 or 4 of the best aside and sell the rest for $US250,000. I used my knowledge to create money to finance my dream.""