Idries Shah > Quotes

“It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“Right time, right place, right people equals success.
Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm.”
― Idries Shah

“Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“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, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

“You must empty out the dirty water before you fill the pitcher with clean.”
― Idries Shah

“Three Things
Three things cannot be retrieved:
The arrow once sped from the bow
The word spoken in haste
The missed opportunity.

(Ali the Lion, Caliph of Islam, son-in-law of Mohammed the Prophet),”
― Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams

“Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“You need not wonder whether you should have an unreliable person as a friend. An unreliable person is nobody's friend.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“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, Seeker After Truth: A Handbook

“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, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

“The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“Have you noticed how many people who walk in the shade curse the Sun?”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“Knowledge is something which you can use.
Belief is something which uses you.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“Banality is like boredom: bored people are boring people, people who think that things are banal are themselves banal.
Interesting people can find something interesting in all things.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.”
― Idries Shah, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

“Sayings of the Prophet
Trust: Trust in God – but tie your camel first.”
― Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams

“A motto of the human race: Let me do as I like, and give me approval as well.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“When people have a hard task to do - one which stretches them - they become less concerned with trivial matters.”
― Idris SHah

“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, Sufi Thought and Action: An Anthology of Important Papers

“The union of the mind and intuition which brings about illumination, and the development which the Sufis seek, is based upon love.”
― Idries Shah

“Good. Show me a man who thinks that he knows what 'good' is, and I will probably be able to show you a horror of a person. Show me a person who really knows what 'good' is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word.”
― Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams

“The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.”
― Idries Shah, Sufi Thought and Action: An Anthology of Important Papers

“One cannot learn from someone whom one distrusts.”
― Idries Shah, Sufi Thought and Action: An Anthology of Important Papers

“If, from time to time, you give up expectation, you will be able to perceive what it is you are getting.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“To be obsessed by the idea of freedom, for instance, is itself a form of slavery. Such people are in the chains of the hope of freedom, and are therefore able to do little else than struggle with them.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections

“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, Reflections

“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, Reflections

“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.”
― Idries Shah, Reflections