The Quote Archive Logo
Login
Authors Public Collections Topics My Collections

Quotes by Idries Shah

Sufism is, in operation, pragmatic.

Idries Shah

It is the goldsmith who can assay the gold.

Idries Shah

I longed to teach, but I had to wait until the desire had left me before I could really do so.

Idries Shah

Nobody can stand between you and knowledge if you are fit for it.

Idries Shah

Whoever might perfume a scorpionWill not thereby escape its sting. Bahaudin Naqshband

Idries Shah

Truth has no form.

Idries Shah

A book, for the Sufis, is an instrument as much as it is something to give information....The key is the teacher.

Idries Shah

That which is given free is never knowledge. It may be information....but knowledge does not come in that manner.

Idries Shah

Sufism, in one definition, is human life.

Idries Shah

To say yes to the Sufi way is to say no to imagined escapes.

Idries Shah

When prayer, rituals and ascetic life are just a means of self-indulgence, they are harmful rather than beneficial.

Idries Shah

Three things cannot be retrieved:The arrow once sped from the bowThe word spoken in hasteThe missed opportunity. Ali, the Lion of Islam.

Idries Shah

Feeling important is a vice, not a virtue, however concealed as participation in something noble.

Idries Shah

With enough information, it is almost impossible not to predict peoples action.

Idries Shah

But the minimum human duty is to serve others: it is no great attainment.

Idries Shah

Sayings of the ProphetTrust: Trust in God – but tie your camel first.

Idries Shah

One lie will keep out forty truths.

Idries Shah

Whoever gives knowledge to a fool loses itAnd who keeps it from the deserving does wrong.

Idries Shah

ServiceI will not serve God like a labourer, in expectation of my wages.Rabia el-Adawia.

Idries Shah

Generosity is also marked by doing what one says one will do.

Idries Shah