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

More quotes by 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.
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History is not usually what has happened. History is what some people have thought to be significant.
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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.
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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.
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A certain person may have, as you say, a wonderful presence I do not know. What I do know is that he has a perfectly delightful absence.
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When the ignorant have become numerous or powerful enough, they have been referred to by a special name. This names is 'the Wise'.
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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.
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If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.
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A man who believes the word of a donkey in preference to my word does not deserve to be lent anything.
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Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.
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If you give what can be taken, you are not really giving. Take what you are given, not what you want to be given. Give what cannot be taken.
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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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Advice is priceless: when it becomes interference it is preposterous.
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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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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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A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
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Do not try to be humble: learn humility.
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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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When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for.
Idries Shah