Idries Shah Quotes
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It is not important to have said a thing first, or best - or even most interestingly. What is important is to say it on the right occasion.
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Meditation - Before you learn how to meditate, you must unlearn what you think meditation might be.
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Worry is a cloud which rains destruction.
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The more wakeful a man is to the things which surround him, the more asleep is he, and his waking is worse than his sleep.
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But one may say something and yet not be able to do it. Try, for instance, lifting yourself up by the bootstraps.
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The Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.
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The impatient man is his own enemy; he slams the door on his own progress.
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The chicken had his wish, and was magically transformed into a fox. Then he found that he could not digest grain.
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It is not enough that there is a collection of people with the common aim of working in unison towards an objective... Aspiration and desire only are not enough.
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A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
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If, from time to time, you give up expectation, you will be able to perceive what it is you are getting.
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The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.
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Advice is priceless: when it becomes interference it is preposterous.
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Better to be safe than to be sorry' is a remark of value only when these are the actual alternatives.
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The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day.
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Trying to force something is the best way to stop it happening.
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When you realize the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.
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... when we are talking about 'Christians' and 'Moslems' we must first make sure that we are talking about people who have an idea, which should be more or less correct, as to what the other is supposed to believe and what he is expected to do as a consequence of that belief.
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People used to play with toys. Now the toys play with them.
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The colour of the water seems to be the colour of the glass into which it has been poured'.
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Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. If you have enough camels, no backs need be broken.
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Right time, right place, right people equals success. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history.
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Enemies are often former or potential friends who have been denied - or think that they have been denied - something.
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No practice exists in isolation.