Idries Shah, Reflections
62 quotes
"Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information."
"Knowledge is something which you can use.Belief is something which uses you."
"Right time, right place, right people equals success.Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history."
"History is not usually what has happened. History is what some people have thought to be significant."
"The existence of relative truth does not prove the non-existence of universal truth."
"Two people can illustrate crudity to you.The first is the crude man, whom you see perceiving the diamond as a stone.The other is the refined man, who makes clear to you the crudity of the first one."
"Almost every day I am reminded of Saadi's reflection that there is no senseless tyranny like that of subordinates."
"You say that this society will come to an end, because societies always have done so. I wonder whether they have ended because they were not really societies at all."
"Presence and AbsenceA certain person may have, as you say, a wonderful presence: I do not know. What I do know is that he has a perfectly delightful absence."
"EXPECTATION If, from time to time, you give up expectation, you will be able to perceive what it is you are getting."
"None should say: ‘I can trust,’ or ‘I cannot trust’ until he is master of the option, of trusting or not trusting."
"The lightning said to the oak tree: ‘Stand aside, or take what is coming to you!"
"The stupidest man I ever met had a favourite saying. It was: 'What do you think I am, stupid, or something?"
"The word 'choice' is a fraud while people choose only what they have been taught to choose."
"The laziness of adolescence is a rehearsal for the incapacity of old age."
"Knowledge is something which you can use. Belief is something which uses you."
"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."
"None should say: 'I can trust' or 'I cannot trust' until he is a master of the option, of trusting or not trusting."
"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?"
"None should say : 'I can trust,' or 'I cannot trust' until he is a master of the option, of trusting or not trusting."
"Because there is a word for perfection, people will always imagine that they know it."
"Enemies are often former or potential friends who have been denied - or think that they have been denied - something."
"To drown in treacle is just as unpleasant as to drown in mud.People today are in danger of drowning in information; but because they have been taught information is useful, they are more willing to drown than they need be.If they could handle information, they would not have to drown at all.The lightning said to the oak tree: 'Stand aside, or take what is coming to you!"
"It is not 'Have I got a chance?' It is more often: 'Have I seen my chance?"
"When the human being says:'It is not true...'He may mean:'I don't know about it, so I think it is untrue.'Or:'I don't like it."