Quotes By Author: Idries Shah

“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.”

“Three ThingsThree things cannot be retrieved:The arrow once sped from the bowThe word spoken in hasteThe missed opportunity.(Ali the Lion, Caliph of Islam, son-in-law of Mohammed the Prophet),”

“Knowledge is something which you can use.Belief is something which uses you.”

“Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information.”

“Recognizing a ‘True Master’ is possible only when the postulant, man or woman, is what we call ‘sincere’.”

“Man is the microcosm, creation the macrocosm — the unity. All comes from One.”

“The intellect is not sovereign: knowledge is.”

“Put your dough into the oven when it is hot:After making sure that it is in fact dough.”

“People generally deal with situations by means of assumptions.”

“No problem is too difficult to be solved by a theoretician.”

“If wine is the enemy of religion, I shall devour the enemy of religion.”

“It is not Sufism if it does not perform its function for you. A cloak is no longer a cloak if it does not keep a man warm.”

“The function of a nutrient is to become transmuted, not to leave unaltered traces.”

“Haste is from the Devil.”

“Saying of the Prophet. The Bequest: I have nothing to leave you except my family.”