1,355 Quotes by Idries Shah

Banality is like boredom: bored people are boring people, people who think that things are banal are themselves banal. Interesting people can find something interesting in all things.

When you realize the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.

The Sufi is One who does not care when something is taken from him, but who does not cease to seek for what he has not.

It is not enough that there is a collection of people with the common aim of working in unison towards an objective... Aspiration and desire only are not enough.

Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. If you have enough camels, no backs need be broken.

We view Sufism not as an ideology that molds people to the right way of belief or action, but as an art or science that can exert a beneficial influence on individuals and societies, in accordance with the needs of those individuals and societies ... Sufi study and development gives one capacities one did not have before.

From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: 'Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment.

The more you look at 'common knowledge', the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge. No real knowledge is common.

MAN: Kick him-he'll forgive you. Flatter him-he may or may not see through you. But ignore him and he'll hate you