Idries Shah Quotes

Quotes about:

• Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm.

  Idries Shah

  Spiritual, Enlightenment, Littles

  Idries Shah (1999). “The Sufis”, p.124, Octagon Press Ltd

  57 Copy quote

• Knowledge is not gained, it is there all the time. It is the "veils" which have to be dissolved in the mind.

  Idries Shah

  Mind, Veils

  Idries Shah (2002). “Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study”, p.39, Octagon Press Ltd

  34 Copy quote

• Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information.

  Idries Shah

  People, Information, Opinion

  Idries Shah (2015). “Reflections”, p.54, ISF Publishing

  26 Copy quote

• Knowledge is something which you can use. Belief is something which uses you.

  Idries Shah

  Use, Belief

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.125, Octagon Press Ltd

  17 Copy quote

• Trying to force something is the best way to stop it happening.

  Idries Shah

  Trying, Way, Force

  Idries Shah (1997). “The Commanding Self”, p.39, Octagon Press Ltd

  27 Copy quote

• If you want to make an ordinary man happy, or think that he is happy, give him money, power, flattery, gifts, honours. If you want to make a wise man happy - improve yourself!

  Idries Shah

  Wise, Men, Thinking

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.28, Octagon Press Ltd

  5 Copy quote

• From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: 'Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment.

  Idries Shah

  Thinking, Moments, Truth Is

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.140, Octagon Press Ltd

  4 Copy quote

• When you realize the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.

  Idries Shah

  Differences, Realizing, Containers

  Idries Shah (2016). “The Book of the Book”, p.15, ISF Publishing

  13 Copy quote

• The chicken had his wish, and was magically transformed into a fox. Then he found that he could not digest grain.

  Idries Shah

  Wish, Foxes, Chickens

  Idries Shah (1991). “The Magic Monastery: Analogical and Action Philosophy of the Middle East and Central Asia”, p.167, Octagon Press Ltd

  16 Copy quote

• The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.

  Idries Shah

  Practice, Way, Sufi

  Idries Shah (1990). “Sufi Thought and Action”, p.4, Octagon Press Ltd

  21 Copy quote

• The word 'choice' is a fraud while people choose only what they have been taught to choose.

  Idries Shah

  People, Choices, Taught

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.22, Octagon Press Ltd

  52 Copy quote

• Right time, right place, right people equals success. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history.

  Idries Shah

  Real, People, Right Time

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.82, Octagon Press Ltd

  18 Copy quote

• Please, not again what you studied, how long you spent at it, how many books you wrote, what people thought of you - but: what did you learn?

  Idries Shah

  Book, Long, People

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.142, Octagon Press Ltd

  15 Copy quote

• If, from time to time, you give up expectation, you will be able to perceive what it is you are getting.

  Idries Shah

  Giving Up, Expectations, Able

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.141, Octagon Press Ltd

  16 Copy quote

• When the ignorant have become numerous or powerful enough, they have been referred to by a special name. This names is 'the Wise'.

  Idries Shah

  Wise, Powerful, Names

  3 Copy quote

• Materialism, attachment to things of the world, includes pride. Many religious people suffer from pride: taking pleasure or even delight in being good, or religious.

  Idries Shah

  Religious, Pride, Attachment

  Idries Shah (1990). “Sufi Thought and Action”, p.3, Octagon Press Ltd

  15 Copy quote

• Man (and woman) has an infinite capacity for self-development. Equally, he has an infinite capacity for self-destruction. A human being may be clinically alive and yet, despite all appearances, spiritually dead.

  Idries Shah

  Men, Self, Alive

  25 Copy quote

• Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.

  Idries Shah

  Action, Study, Assumption

  Idries Shah (1978). “Learning how to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way”, p.91, Octagon Press Ltd

  17 Copy quote

• Worry is a cloud which rains destruction.

  Idries Shah

  Rain, Clouds, Worry

  Idries Shah (1991). “Seeker After Truth”, p.33, Octagon Press Ltd

  10 Copy quote

• A motto of the human race: Let me do what I like, and give me approval as well.

  Idries Shah

  Race, Giving, Approval

  "Reflections".

  18 Copy quote

• The more you look at 'common knowledge', the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge. No real knowledge is common.

  Idries Shah

  Real, Looks, Common

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.140, Octagon Press Ltd

  6 Copy quote

• People used to play with toys. Now the toys play with them.

  Idries Shah

  Play, People, Toys

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.145, Octagon Press Ltd

  3 Copy quote

• If you are uninterested in what I say, there's an end to it. If you like what I say, please try to understand which previous influences have made you like it. If you like some of the things I say, and dislike others, you could try to understand why. If you dislike all I say, why not try to find out what formed your attitude?

  Idries Shah

  Attitude, Trying, Why Not

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.10, Octagon Press Ltd

  8 Copy quote

• When Fortune knocks, open the door,' they say. But why should one make fortune knock, by keeping the door shut?

  Idries Shah

  Doors, Should, Fortune

  Idries Shah (1988). “Caravan of Dreams”, p.220, Octagon Press Ltd

  12 Copy quote

• Meditation - Before you learn how to meditate, you must unlearn what you think meditation might be.

  Idries Shah

  Thinking, Meditation, Might

  Idries Shah (1988). “Caravan of Dreams”, p.229, Octagon Press Ltd

  21 Copy quote

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