Quotes by Idries Shah

About Idries Shah:

Idries Shah 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.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

But the Sufis work IN the world, and therefore WITH 'things of the world'.

Idries Shah

Q: What is a fundamental mistake of man's? A: To think that he is alive, when he has merely fallen asleep in life's waiting-room.

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

P: ¿Cuál es un error fundamental del hombre? R: Pensar que está vivo, cuando simplemente se ha dormido en la antesala de la vida.

Idries Shah

Cuando oración, rituales y vida ascética son solo los medios para la autoindulgencia, son más dañinos que beneficiosos.

Idries Shah

Pero el mínimo deber humano es servir a otros: no es un gran logro.

Idries Shah

When prayer, rituals and ascetic life are just a means of self-indulgence, they are harmful rather than beneficial. This is quite obvious to people nowadays, when it is widely recognised that fixations are not the same as valuable and laudable observ...

Idries Shah

When there is a true or useful thing, there is sure to be a counterfeit.

Idries Shah

Donde haya una cosa verdadera o útil, con seguridad habrá una falsificación.

Idries Shah

Hazrat Ali, en un dicho que se le atribuye, dice: “El hombre está disfrazado, cubierto por su lengua

Idries Shah

Pero los Sufis trabajan EN el mundo, y por lo tanto CON 'cosas del mundo'.

Idries Shah

They asked Abboud of Omdurman: 'Which is better, to be young or to be old?' He said: 'To be old is to have less time before you and more mistakes behind. I leave you to decide whether this is better than the reverse.

Idries Shah

Never follow any impulse to teach, however strong it might be. The command to teach is not felt as an impulsion.

Idries Shah

Ali, Son of the Father of the Seeker Ali said: 'None may arrive at the Truth until he is able to think that the Path itself may be wrong. This is because those who can only believe that it must be right are not believers, but people who are incapable...

Idries Shah

Wisdom Sufian said: 'The wisdom which is invisible but which sustains is a hundred times better than the appearance of wisdom, for that has itself to be sustained.

Idries Shah

Counsels of Bahaudin You want to be filled. But something which is full has first to be emptied. Empty yourself so that you will fill properly, by observing these counsels, which you can do as duties to yourself: First Never follow any impulse to tea...

Idries Shah

The Book of Wisdom. Simab said: 'I shall sell the Book of Wisdom for a hundred gold pieces, and some people will say that it is cheap.' Yunus Marmar said to him: 'And I shall give away the key to understanding it, and almost none shall take it, even ...

Idries Shah

Saying of the Mulla Nasrudin. If I survive this life without dying, I'll be surprised.

Idries Shah

If a pot can multiply. One day Nasrudin lent his cooking pots to a neighbour, who was giving a feast. The neighbour returned them, together with one extra one – a very tiny pot. 'What is this?' asked Nasrudin. 'According to law, I have given you th...

Idries Shah

Nunca sigas ningún impulso para enseñar, sin importar lo fuerte que pudiera ser. El mandato para enseñar no se siente como un impulso.

Idries Shah

Sabiduría Sufian dijo: “La sabiduría que es invisible pero que sustenta es cien veces mejor que la apariencia de sabiduría, porque ésta tiene que ser sostenida.

Idries Shah

Author Bio

  • NameIdries Shah
  • DescriptionWriter and Sufi teacher
  • BornJune 16, 1924
  • DiedNovember 23, 1996
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionWriter