Idries Shah
Idries Shah
Idries Shah, also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimiand by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth16 June 1924
CountryIndia
Idries Shah quotes about
thinking moments truth-is
From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: 'Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment.
real looks common
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.
educational thinking goal
There is a succession of experiences which together constitute the educational and developmental ripening of the learner, according to the Sufis. People who think that each gain is the goal itself will freeze at any such stage, and cannot learn through successive and superseding lessons.
information sometimes pessimist
Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.
book mean way
The Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.
hard-work people effort
Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right effort, right time, right people, right materials.
real secret persons
A real secret is something which only one person knows.
ignorance mean trying
There is a Persian proverb: 'To test that which has been tested is ignorance.' To try to test something without the means of testing is even worse.
distrust
One cannot learn from someone whom one distrusts.
men important messages
It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.
believe sufi sufism
The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.
taken giving want
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.
mean generosity gains
A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
important firsts said
It is not important to have said a thing first, or best - or even most interestingly. What is important is to say it on the right occasion.