Hazrat Inayat Khan Quotes
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The heart becomes wide by forgetting self, but narrow by thinking of the self and pitying one's self. To gain a wide and broad heart you must have something before you to look upon, and to rest your intelligence upon - and that something is the God-ideal.
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Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which gems and jewels do not possess; a word may contain so much life that it can heal the wounds of the heart. Therefore, poetry in which the soul is expressed is as living as a human being. The greatest reward that God bestows on man is eloquence and poetry. This is not an exaggeration, for it is the gift of the poet that culminates, in time, with the gift of prophecy.
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All names and forms are the garbs and covers under which the one life is hidden.
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Atmosphere is a silent music. It has its effect upon the listener, exciting or peaceful, whatever it may be.
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The purpose of creation is beauty. Nature in all its various aspects develops towards beauty, and therefore it is plain that the purpose of life is to evolve towards beauty.
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The existence of illness in the body may no doubt be called a shadow of the true illness which is held by man in his mind.
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Your heart is not living intil it has experienced pain... the pain of love breaks open the heart, even if it is as hard as a rock.
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All ignorance is the lack of love.
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The world is evolving from imperfection to perfection. It needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness are required from each one of us.
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Love manifests towards those whom we like as love; towards those whom we do not like as forgiveness.
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To attain peace, what one has to do is to seek that rhythm which is in the depth of our being.
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In a small affair or in a big affair, first consult yourself and find out if there is any conflict in your own being about anything you want to do. And when you find no conflict there, then feel sure that a path is already made for you. You have but to open your eyes and take a step forward, and the other step will be led by God.
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The happiness of this world is something we cannot keep; it is just like the horizon - the nearer you go, the farther it goes. As soon as you get it, you see it is not the thing you wanted.
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If there is anything that gives kingliness to the soul, it is patience. What was the secret of the masters who have accomplished great things, who have inspired many and who have helped many souls? Their secret was patience.
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Every passion, every emotion, has its effect upon the mind. Every change of mind, however slight, has its effect upon the body.
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I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all.
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Repose is the secret of all contemplation and meditation, the secret of getting in tune with that aspect of life which is the essence of all things. When one is not accustomed to take repose, one does not know what is behind one's being.
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The whole of life is as music and in order to study life we must study it as music. It is not only study, it is also practice which makes man perfect. If someone tells me that a certain person is miserable or wretched or distressed, my answer will be that he is out of tune.
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When I open my eyes to the outer world I feel myself as a drop in the sea. But when I close my eyes and look within, I see the whole universe as a bubble raised in the ocean of my heart.
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All that produces longing in the heart deprives it of its freedom.
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Silence is the adornment of the wise, and for the foolish the only dignity possible.
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Our virtues are made by love, and our sins are caused by the lack of it.
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True power is not in trying to gain power; true power is in becoming power. But how to become power? It requires an attempt to make a definite change in oneself, and that change is a kind of struggle with one's false self.
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The one Spirit of life is given different names, the sacred names. We more easily recognize the Spirit of life by the particular name to which we are accustomed. So far we are right, but the mistake we make, and it is to our loss, is to ignore or deny the same truth because it is given to us in another form and under another name. We limit it. We say the truth existed only in that period when certain teachers came to the world, and that after that it stopped.