Idries Shah Quotes - Page 7

The person that you feel yourself to be, according to the Sufis, is a false person, which has no true reality.
Idries Shah
He who knows himself, knows his Lord' means, among other things, that self-deception prevents knowledge.
Idries Shah
It has truly been said that 'Humility is not so much a virtue as a necessity, in order to learn.
Idries Shah
Words have to die if humans are to live.
Idries Shah
Why did I do such-and-such a thing?' is all very well. But what about 'How otherwise could I have done it?
Idries Shah
All approaches to a study or an individual may start with a desire for attention. However they start, they must never end up in this manner.
Idries Shah
You have come a long way, and you do not know it. You have a long way to do, and you do know what that means.
Idries Shah
...action is in fact knowledge in operation. Right action stems from right knowledge. Right knowledge is acquired through the teacher.
Idries Shah
The real generosity is when a man does something generous when nobody knows about it.
Idries Shah
Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible.
Idries Shah
Learn about hornets from those who have been stung by them.
Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetInk and BloodThe ink of the learned is holier than the blood of the martyr.
Idries Shah
Opportunity's precious, and time is a sword.
Idries Shah
Q: What is a fundamental mistake of man's?A: To think that he is alive, when he has merely fallen asleep in life's waiting-room.
Idries Shah
Real generosity is anonymous to the extent that a man should be prepared even to be considered ungenerous rather than explain it to others.
Idries Shah
Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore.
Idries Shah
TeachingOne hour's teaching is better than a whole night of prayer.
Idries Shah
One should not pray if that prayer is vanity.
Idries Shah
If a Manx cat tells you that it is trying to preserve its long, beautiful tail, you don't have to believe it - especially if you have eyes.
Idries Shah
Knowledge is something which you can use. Belief is something which uses you.
Idries Shah
Show me a person who really knows what 'good' is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word.
Idries Shah
The laziness of adolescence is a rehearsal for the incapacity of old age.
Idries Shah
When Fortune knocks, open the door,' they say. But why should one make fortune knock, by keeping the door shut?
Idries Shah
When you realise the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge
Idries Shah
The colour of the water seems to be the colour of the glass into which it has been poured
Idries Shah
The word 'choice' is a fraud while people choose only what they have been taught to choose.
Idries Shah
The stupidest man I ever met had a favourite saying. It was: 'What do you think I am, stupid, or something?
Idries Shah
When you realise the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.
Idries Shah
RemedyYour medicine is in you, and you do not observe it. Your ailment is from yourself, and you do not register it.Hazrat Ali
Idries Shah
Sufis are those who have expunged from their minds the human tendencies of envy and enmity.
Idries Shah
When humility is exercised, people begin to realise that they do not, as it were, exist at all.
Idries Shah
There can be no spirituality, according to the Sufi masters, without psychology, psychological insight and sociological balance.
Idries Shah
Premature independence is the daughter of conceit.
Idries Shah
One of the great Sufis said: 'A saint is a saint unless he knows that he is one.
Idries Shah
Laziness is always your fault. It is the sign that a man has persevered in uselessness for too long.
Idries Shah
Remember the proverb: 'A sign is enough for the alert, but a thousand counsels are not enough for the negligent.
Idries Shah
Greed harms you: generosity helps you. This is why it has been said: 'Greed is the mother of incapacity'.
Idries Shah
if... says: 'Do not be greedy, be generous', you may inwardly interpret this in such a manner that you will develop a greed for generosity
Idries Shah
The Sufi is one who does what others do – when it is necessary. He is also one who does what others cannot do – when it is indicated.
Idries Shah
Most of the supposedly Sufi organizations, exercises and “orders” are in fact only of archaeological interest.
Idries Shah
However fast you run, or however skilfully, you can’t run away from your own feet.
Idries Shah
The lightning said to the oak tree: ‘Stand aside, or take what is coming to you!
Idries Shah
None should say: ‘I can trust,’ or ‘I cannot trust’ until he is master of the option, of trusting or not trusting.
Idries Shah
Sufism, they say, is that which enables one to understand religion, irrespective of its current outward form.
Idries Shah
A Sufi is alive to the value of time, and is given, every moment, to what that moment demands.
Idries Shah
The barren branches may appear inelegant: They are, to the cook, the means to make his fire.
Idries Shah
The tongue is the best masseur of furrowed brows.
Idries Shah
In the realm of Greater Understanding, the workshop is dismantled after the work is finished.
Idries Shah
What you are seeking in your retreat, I see clearly in every road and alleyway.
Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetEnvyEnvy devours good deeds, as a fire devours fuel.
Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetThe JudgeA man appointed to be a judge has been killed without a knife.
Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetAngerYou ask for a piece of advice. I tell you: 'Do not get angry.' He is strong who can withhold anger.
Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetThe TongueA man slips with his tongue more than with his feet.
Idries Shah
Poor greedy one, wherever he runs He's after food, and death is after him.(Saadi)
Idries Shah
Patience is a garment which has never worn out.
Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetUnderstandingSpeak to everyone in accordance with his degree of understanding.
Idries Shah
If you have no troubles – buy a goat.
Idries Shah
Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza. Worry: Something to make you unnecessarily ill.
Idries Shah
Definitions from Mulla Do-PiazaPoverty: The result of marriage.
Idries Shah
Definitions from Mulla Do-PiazaPenitent: Someone who has been made incapable of enjoying himself.
Idries Shah