Home / Quotes / Quote by Idries Shah

Quote by Idries Shah

“Trying to force something is the best way to stop it happening.”

Quote by Idries Shah

Book:The Commanding Self

Work

The Commanding Self

This book explores the principles and practices of self-discipline, offering strategies for personal growth and empowerment. more

Author

Idries Shah was a renowned author known for his dissemination of Eastern philosophy and wisdom. His works blend Sufism, Eastern mysticism, and Western philosophy, aiming to promote human wisdom and inner growth. Shah's books include 'The Sufi Path of Love' and 'The Power of Silence'. more

You May Also Like

“Meditation - Before you learn how to meditate, you must unlearn what you think meditation might be.”

Thinking Might Meditation Mediation Unlearn

Book:Caravan of Dreams

Source: Caravan of Dreams

“Many things which are called 'secrets' are only things withheld from people until they can understand or effectively experience them.”

Book:Learning how to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

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

“Like the bat, the Sufi is asleep to 'things of the day' - the familiar struggle for existence which the ordinary man finds all-important - and vigilant while others are asleep. In other words, he keeps awake the spiritual attention dormant in others. That 'mankind sleeps in a nightmare of unfulfillment' is a commonplace of Sufi literature”

Source: The Sufis

“There is a Persian proverb: 'To test that which has been tested is ignorance.' To try to test something without the means of testing is even worse.”

Trying Mean Has Beens Ignorance Tests Tested Testing Persian

Book:Caravan of Dreams

Source: Caravan of Dreams

“There is a succession of experiences which together constitute the educational and developmental ripening of the learner, according to the Sufis. People who think that each gain is the goal itself will freeze at any such stage, and cannot learn through successive and superseding lessons.”

People Thinking Together Goal Stage Lessons Gains Educational Sufi Succession Freeze Learners Developmental Ripening

Book:A Perfumed Scorpion

Source: A Perfumed Scorpion

“Your soul either feels lifted by something that you read, or it feels squashed by it.”

Feels Soul Your Soul

Author:Vera Farmiga

“The main problem is that most commentators are accustomed to thinking of spiritual schools as 'systems', which are more or less alike, and which depend upon dogma and ritual: and especially upon repetition and the application of continual and standardised pressures upon their followers.The Sufi way, except in degenerate forms which are not to be classified as Sufic, is entirely different from this.”

Thinking Way Different Problem School Spiritual Form Depends Pressure Ritual Followers Application Dogma Repetition Sufi Accustomed Commentators Degenerates

Author:Idries Shah

“The colour of the water seems to be the colour of the glass into which it has been poured'.”

Has Beens Seems Water Glasses Colour

Book:The World of the Sufi: an anthology of writings about Sufis and their work

Source: The World of the Sufi: an anthology of writings about Sufis and their work

“The more wakeful a man is to the things which surround him, the more asleep is he, and his waking is worse than his sleep.”

Men Sleep Surround Waking

Author:Idries Shah

“Sin endeavors to subject the blessed God to the humor and lust of every person in the world”

World Persons Sin Subjects Blessed Lust Endeavor

Book:The Existence and Attributes of God

Source: The Existence and Attributes of God