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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.

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
Bootstraps
Lifting
Instance
May
Able
Trying
Something

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People used to play with toys. Now the toys play with them.
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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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Worry is a cloud which rains destruction.
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The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.
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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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Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.
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The Path is not to be found anywhere except in human service
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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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If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.
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Right time, right place, right people equals success. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history.
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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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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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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 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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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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If your desire for 'good' is based on greed, it is not good, but greed.
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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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A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
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Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information.
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Advice is priceless: when it becomes interference it is preposterous.
Idries Shah