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

More quotes by Idries Shah

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The Path is not to be found anywhere except in human service
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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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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
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Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.
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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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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?
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If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.
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Do not try to be humble: learn humility.
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To 'see both sides' of a problem is the surest way to prevent its complete solution. Because there are always more than two sides.
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People used to play with toys. Now the toys play with them.
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Knowledge is not gained, it is there all the time. It is the veils which have to be dissolved in the mind.
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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.
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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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Worry is a cloud which rains destruction.
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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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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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He that is purified by love is pure and he that is absorbed in the Beloved and hath abandoned all else is a Sufi.Sirdar Ikbal Ali 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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Effort makes some great men famous. Even greater effort enables other great men to remain unknown.
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