“We must strive for freedom if we strive for self-knowledge. The task of self-knowledge and of further self-development is of such importance and seriousness, it demands such intensity of effort, that to attempt it any old way and amongst other things is impossible. The person who undertakes this task must put it first in his life, which is not so long that he can afford to squander it on trifles.” IfsWayFirstsPersonsLongSelfEffortImpossibleDevelopmentDemandTasksImportanceStriveIntensitySelf KnowledgeSelf DevelopmentSeriousnessTriflesOld Ways Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“A man must first of all understand certain things. He has thousands of false ideas and false conceptions, chiefly about himself, and he must get rid of some of them before beginning to acquire anything new. Otherwise the new will be built on a wrong foundation and the result will be worse than before. To speak the truth is the most difficult thing in the world; one must study a great deal and for a long time in order to speak the truth. The wish alone is not enough. To speak the truth one must know what the truth is and what a lie is, and first of all in oneself. And this nobody wants to know.” KnowsMenWorldWantFirstsLongIdeasEnoughLyingCertainOrderSpeakWishDifficultGrowthResultsDealsStudyTruth IsLong TimeBuiltFoundationOneselfAcquireConceptionDifficult ThingsSpeak The Truth Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“You can never awaken using the same system that put you to sleep in the first place.” FirstsGrowthSleep Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“Practice love first on animals, they are more sensitive.” FirstsAnimalPracticeSensitive Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on yourself is to realize that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind.” MindFirstsMayMeanMomentsDiesWishRealizing Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“One of the strongest motives for wishing to work on yourself is the realization that you may die at any moment - only you must first realize this.” FirstsMayMomentsDiesWishRealizingRealizationMotiveStrongest Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“The first thing, the very very first thing, "Find out what your greatest characteristic is, your greatest undoing, your central characteristic of unconsciousness." Each one's is different. Somebody is sex-obsessed. In a country like India, where for centuries sex has been repressed, that has become almost a universal characteristic; everybody is obsessed with sex. Somebody is obsessed with anger, and somebody else is obsessed with greed. You have to watch which is your basic obsession.” FirstsHas BeensDifferentCountrySexWatchesCenturyUniversalIndiaGreedObsessionObsessedCharacteristicsRepressedUnconsciousnessUndoing Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“Practice love on animals first; they react better and more sensitively.” FirstsAnimalPractice Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“To know means to know all. Not to know all means not to know. In order to know all, it is only necessary to know a little. But, in order to know this little, it is first necessary to know pretty much.” KnowsFirstsMeanLittlesOrder Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“The first reason for people's slavery is our ignorance, and above all, our ignorance of ourselves.” PeopleFirstsReasonIgnoranceSlavery Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“If a sufficient number of people who wanted to stop war really did gather together, they would first of all begin by making war upon those who disagreed with them. And it is still more certain that they would make war on people who also want to stop wars but in another way.” PeopleIfsWayWantFirstsStillsWarWantedTogetherCertainNumbersSufficientAnother WayStop War Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“The first fundamental law of the universe is the law of three forces, of three principles, or , as it is often called, the law of three. According to this law every action, every phenomenon in all worlds without exception, is the result of a simultaneous action of three forces- the positive, the negative, and the neutralizing.” WorldFirstsActionLawUniverseThreeForceResultsPrinciplesNegativeFundamentalsExceptionCyclesPhenomenonSimultaneous Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
“To know all, it is necessary to know very little; but to know that very little, one must first know pretty much.” KnowsFirstsLittlesKnowledgeGnosis Author:G. I. Gurdjieff
