Idries Shah

“The colour of the water is the colour of the glass.”

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

“You must be a lotus, unfolding its petals when the sun rises in the sky, unaffected by the slush where it is born or even the water which sustains it.”

“A real secret is something which the whole world is shouting.”

“When a belief becomes more important than the truth, you've lost the truth.”

“The Path is not to be found in books.”

“Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm.”

“Man is not, as some people think, a trivial point in the universe. He is the mirror of the universe, and we have only to learn how to look in this mirror.”

“Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.”

“Do not try to be humble. Learn humility.”

“If you don't know what you are, you are a Frankenstein monster made up of bits and pieces of what others have told you.”

“A person who is not inwardly prepared for the use of power will be corrupted by it.”

“The first lesson is that you are not in control.”

“It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.”

“The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.”

“The function of a nutrient is to become a part of you. The function of an idea is to become a part of your way of thinking.”

“Premature certainty is the devil of philosophy.”

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself.”

“Right time, right place, right people.”