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Understanding is always the understanding of a smaller problem in relation to a bigger problem.

P.D. Ouspensky

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P.D. Ouspensky
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More quotes by P.D. Ouspensky

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In existing criminology there are concepts: a criminal man, a criminal profession, a criminal society, a criminal sect, and a criminal tribe, but there is no concept of a criminal state, or a criminal government, or criminal legislation. Consequently what is often regarded as political activity is in fact a criminal activity.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Possibly the most interesting first impression of my life came from the world of dreams.
P.D. Ouspensky
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One cannot keep all old views and opinions and acquire new ones.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Psychology is sometimes called a new science. This is quite wrong. Psychology is, perhaps, the oldest science, and, unfortunately, in its most essential features a forgotten science.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Philosophy is based on speculation, on logic, on thought, on the synthesis of what we know and on the analysis of what we do not know. Philosophy must include within its confines the whole content of science, religion and art.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Art is the communication of ecstasy.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Most people can accept the truth only in the form of a lie.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Our ancestors were very rich and eminent people, and they left us an enormous inheritance, which we have completely forgotten, especially since the time when we began to consider ourselves the descendants of a monkey.
P.D. Ouspensky
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If a man gives way to all his desires, or panders to them, there will be no inner struggle in him, no 'friction,' no fire. But if, for the sake of attaining a definite aim, he struggles with desires that hinder him, he will then create a fire which will gradually transform his inner world into a single whole.
P.D. Ouspensky
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The greatest barrier to consciousness is the belief that one is already conscious.
P.D. Ouspensky
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People live in sleep, do everything in sleep, and do not know they are asleep.
P.D. Ouspensky
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There is no tyranny more ferocious than the tyranny of morality. Everything is sacrificed to it.
P.D. Ouspensky
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The problem of Eternity, of which the face of the Sphinx speaks, takes us into the realm of the impossible. Even the problem of Time is simple in comparison with the problem of Eternity.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Seek the Path, do not seek attainment, Seek for the Path within yourself. Do not expect to hear the truth from others, nor to see it, or read it in books. Look for the truth in yourself, not without yourself.
P.D. Ouspensky
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It is by overcoming obstacles that man develops those qualities he needs.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Man has no permanent and unchangeable I. Every thought, every mood, every desire, every sensation says I. And in each case it seems to be taken for granted that this I belongs to the Whole, to the whole man, and that a thought, a desire, or an aversion is expressed by this Whole.
P.D. Ouspensky
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A symbol may serve to transfer our intuitions and to suggest new ones only so long as its meaning is not defined.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Desire is when you do what you want, will is when you can do what you do not want.
P.D. Ouspensky
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Can one alter one´s chief feature? asked someone else. First it is necessary to know it. If you know it, much will depend on the quality of your knowing. If you know it well, then it is possible to change it.
P.D. Ouspensky
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When a man begins to know himself a little he will see in himself many things that are bound to horrify him. So long as a man is not horrified at himself he knows nothing about himself.
P.D. Ouspensky