Idries Shah, The Commanding Self Quotes

Trying to force something is the best way to stop it happening.

One day we will all wear a garment which has no pockets...

If you assume that it is there, you will generally not be far off the truth.

A donkey eats a melon, it remains a donkey

The door of illumination is open to those for whom other doors are closed.

What you have to learn is how to find the unworldly in everything.

Trying to force something is the best way to stop it from happening.

If you assume that it is there, you will generally not be far off the truth…

Sufis are not here to satisfy a demand. They exist to share what they have got. These two things are not always the same.

… the Sufi attitude is: ‘Let the real truth, whatever it may be, be revealed to me’.

The major barrier to understanding is wishful thinking and following that which pleases one.

Nothing cheap without reason.

Those who can’t, try: those who can, don’t have to.

It is the goldsmith who can assay the gold.

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

With enough information, it is almost impossible "not" to predict people's action.