Quote

Anyone can see that an ass laden with books remains a donkey. A human being laden with the undigested results of a tussle with thoughts and books, however, still passes for wise.

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
Book
Wise
Undigested
Results
Donkey
Books
Laden
Anyone
Passes
Stills
Ass
Still
Remains
Human
However
Humans
Thoughts

More quotes by Idries Shah

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Do not try to be humble: learn humility.
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The impatient man is his own enemy he slams the door on his own progress.
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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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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.
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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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It is not only a matter of not caring who knows - it is also a matter of knowing who cares.
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The Path is not to be found anywhere except in human service
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Effort makes some great men famous. Even greater effort enables other great men to remain unknown.
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Advice is priceless: when it becomes interference it is preposterous.
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If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.
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When tomorrow comes, think tomorrow's thoughts.
Idries Shah
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Better to be safe than to be sorry' is a remark of value only when these are the actual alternatives.
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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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The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.
Idries Shah
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Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information.
Idries Shah
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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
Idries Shah
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If, from time to time, you give up expectation, you will be able to perceive what it is you are getting.
Idries Shah
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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.
Idries Shah
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You are adrift while you still think that a means is an end.
Idries Shah
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When you realize the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.
Idries Shah