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Idries Shah Quotes

Idries Shah , also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies, and also a leading thinker of the 20th century.

Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His early writings centred on magic and witchcraft. In 1960 he established a publishing house, Octagon Press, producing translations of Sufi classics as well as titles of his own. His seminal work was The Sufis, which appeared in 1964 and was well received internationally. In 1965, Shah founded the Institute for Cultural Research, a London-based educational charity devoted to the study of human behaviour and culture. A similar organisation, the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge , was established in the United States under the directorship of Stanford University psychology professor Robert Ornstein, whom Shah appointed as his deputy in the U.S.

In his writings, Shah presented Sufism as a universal form of wisdom that predated Islam. Emphasizing that Sufism was not static but always adapted itself to the current time, place and people, he framed his teaching in Western psychological terms. Shah made extensive use of traditional teaching stories and parables, texts that contained multiple layers of meaning designed to trigger insight and self-reflection in the reader. He is perhaps best known for his collections of humorous Mulla Nasrudin stories.

Shah was at times criticized by orientalists who questioned his credentials and background. His role in the controversy surrounding a new translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, published by his friend Robert Graves and his older brother Omar Ali-Shah, came in for particular scrutiny. However, he also had many notable defenders, chief among them the novelist Doris Lessing. Shah came to be recognized as a spokesman for Sufism in the West and lectured as a visiting professor at a number of Western universities. His works have played a significant part in presenting Sufism as a form of spiritual wisdom approachable by individuals and not necessarily attached to any specific religion.



Wikipedia  

✵ 16. June 1924 – 23. November 1996  •  Other names ادریس شاه, אידריס שאה, Ідріс Шах
Idries Shah photo

Works

Reflections
Reflections
Idries Shah
The Sufis
The Sufis
Idries Shah
Idries Shah: 33 quotes5 likes

Famous Idries Shah Quotes

“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 book Caravan of Dreams

Source: Caravan of Dreams

“One cannot learn from someone whom one distrusts.”

Idries Shah

Source: Sufi Thought and Action

“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 book Reflections

Source: Reflections

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

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: Reflections

“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

Source: Sufi Thought and Action

Idries Shah Quotes about people

“You have not forgotten to remember;
You have remembered to forget.
But people can forget to forget. That is just as important as remembering to remember - and generally more practical.”

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: 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 book Reflections

Source: Reflections

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

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: Reflections

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

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: Reflections

Idries Shah Quotes about thinking

“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 book Seeker After Truth

Source: Seeker After Truth

“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 book Reflections

Source: Reflections

“From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying:
'Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment.”

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: Reflections

“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 book Caravan of Dreams

Source: Caravan of Dreams

Idries Shah Quotes

“It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.”

Idries Shah book The Sufis

Source: The Sufis

“Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.”

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: 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 book Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

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

“The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.”

Idries Shah book The Sufis

Source: The Sufis

“Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.”

Idries Shah book Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

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

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

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

“The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.”

Idries Shah

Source: Sufi Thought and Action

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

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: Reflections

“The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day.”

Idries Shah

Source: Sufi Thought and Action

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

Idries Shah book The Sufis

Source: The Sufis

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

Idries Shah

“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 book Reflections

Source: Reflections

“It is not only a matter of not caring who knows - it is also a matter of knowing who cares.”

Idries Shah book Reflections

Source: Reflections

“MAN: Kick him-he'll forgive you. Flatter him-he may or may not see through you. But ignore him and he'll hate you”

Idries Shah

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