Quote

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

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Idries Shah
Age: 72 †
Born: 1924
Born: June 16
Died: 1996
Died: November 23
Author
Collector Of Fairy Tales
Teacher
Writer
Simla
Arkon Daraul
Ideas
Struggle
Little
Freedom
People
Hope
Idea
Chains
Else
Obsessed
Form
Instance
Littles
Slavery
Able
Therefore

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When tomorrow comes, think tomorrow's thoughts.
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Exercise power by means of kindness, and you may be causing more damage than you could by cruelty. Neither approach is correct.
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One of the tragedies of modern times is that people have come to believe that something said by someone in the past, perhaps for illustrative or provocation purposes, actually represents that person's beliefs at the time.
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If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.
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People today are in danger of drowning in information but, because they have been taught that 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.
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One cannot learn from someone whom one distrusts.
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The more you look at 'common knowledge', the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge. No real knowledge is common.
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But one may say something and yet not be able to do it. Try, for instance, lifting yourself up by the bootstraps.
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Worry is a cloud which rains destruction.
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The learned person who only talks will never Penetrate to the inner heart of humans.
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Many things which are called 'secrets' are only things withheld from people until they can understand or effectively experience them.
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It is not only a matter of not caring who knows - it is also a matter of knowing who cares.
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When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for.
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The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.
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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!
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You need not wonder whether you should have an unreliable person as a friend. An unreliable person is nobody's friend.
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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.
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When you realize the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.
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A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
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The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.
Idries Shah