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If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.

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
Turn
Turns
Making
Thief
Murderer
Thieves
Mere
Progress

More quotes by Idries Shah

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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.
Idries Shah
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A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
Idries Shah
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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.
Idries Shah
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Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.
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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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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 learned person who only talks will never Penetrate to the inner heart of humans.
Idries Shah
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Advice is priceless: when it becomes interference it is preposterous.
Idries Shah
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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.
Idries Shah
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The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.
Idries Shah
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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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The impatient man is his own enemy he slams the door on his own progress.
Idries Shah
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If you are uninterested in what I say, there's an end to it. If you like what I say, please try to understand which previous influences have made you like it. If you like some of the things I say, and dislike others, you could try to understand why. If you dislike all I say, why not try to find out what formed your attitude?
Idries Shah
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When the Higher Man does something worthy of admiration, it is an evidence of his Mastership, not the object of it.
Idries Shah
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When you realize the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.
Idries Shah
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From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: 'Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment.
Idries Shah
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The laziness of adolescence is a rehearsal for the incapacity of old age.
Idries Shah
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Trying to force something is the best way to stop it happening.
Idries Shah
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When tomorrow comes, think tomorrow's thoughts.
Idries Shah
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The chicken had his wish, and was magically transformed into a fox. Then he found that he could not digest grain.
Idries Shah