Gurdjieff Best Quotes & Sayings

Awakening is possible only for those who seek it and want it, for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves for a very long time and very persistently in order to attain it. — G.I. Gurdjieff

If a sufficient number of people who wanted to stop war really did gather together, they would first of all begin by making war upon those who disagreed with them. And it is still more certain that they would make war on people who also want to stop wars but in another way. — G.I. Gurdjieff

One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on yourself is to realize that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind. — G.I. Gurdjieff

There is a cosmic law which says that every satisfaction must be paid for with a dissatisfaction. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Knowledge by itself does not give understanding. Nor is understanding increased by an increase of knowledge alone. Understanding depends upon the relation of knowledge to being ... It appears only when a man feels and senses what is connected with it. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Common aim is stronger than blood. — G.I. Gurdjieff

If you can serve a cup of tea right, you can do anything. — G.I. Gurdjieff

An honest being who does not behave absurdly has no
chance at all of becoming famous, or even of being noticed, however kind
and sensible he may be. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Awakening begins when a man realizes that he is going nowhere and does not know where to go. — G.I. Gurdjieff

The highest that a man can attain is to be able to do. — G.I. Gurdjieff

The greatest untold story is the evolution of God. — G.I. Gurdjieff

You are here having realized the necessity of contending with yourself; then thank everyone who provides an opportunity. — G.I. Gurdjieff

To know all, it is necessary to know very little; but to know that very little, one must first know pretty much. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Blessed is he who has a soul, blessed is he who has none, but woe and grief to him who has it in embryo. — G.I. Gurdjieff

You must learn not what people round you consider good or bad, but to act in life as your conscience bids you. An untrammelled conscience will always know more than all the books and teachers put together. — G.I. Gurdjieff

man lies to himself a lot. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Live a life of friction. Let yourself be disturbed as much as possible, but observe. — G.I. Gurdjieff

If a man could understand all the horror of the lives of ordinary people who are turning around in a circle of insignificant interests and insignificant aims, if he could understand what they are losing, he would understand that there can only be one thing that is serious for him - to escape from the general law, to be free. What can be serious for a man in prison who is condemned to death? Only one thing: How to save himself, how to escape: nothing else is serious. — G.I. Gurdjieff

The one great art is that of making a complete human being of oneself. — G.I. Gurdjieff

There do exist enquiring minds, which long for the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by life, try to penetrate to the essence of things and phenomena and to penetrate into themselves. If a man reasons and thinks soundly, no matter which path he follows in solving these problems, he must inevitably arrive back at himself, and begin with the solution of the problem of what he is himself and what his place is in the world around him. — G.I. Gurdjieff

From looking at your neighbor and realizing his true significance, and that he will die, pity and compassion will arise in you for him and finally you will love him. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Let us take some event in the life of humanity. For instance, war. There is a war going on at the present moment. What does it signify? It signifies that several millions of sleeping people are trying to destroy several millions of other sleeping people. They would not do this, of course, if they were to wake up. Everything that takes place is owing to this sleep. — G.I. Gurdjieff

You can never awaken using the same system that put you to sleep in the first place. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Religion is doing; a man does not merely think his religion or feel it, he lives his religion as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion but fantasy or philosophy. — George Gurdjieff

You are in prison. If you wish to get out of prison, the first thing you must do is realize that you are in prison. If you think you are free, you can't escape. — G.I. Gurdjieff

With thorns in the inner world there will always be roses in the outer world, in law-able compensation. — G.I. Gurdjieff

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave. — G.I. Gurdjieff

A moment's reflection will show you that you play many roles in the course of a day . . . and that who you are from moment to moment changes. There is the angry you, and the kind you, the lazy you, the lustful you - hundreds of different you's. Gurdjieff points out that sometimes one "you" does something for which all the other "you's" must pay for years or possibly the rest of this life. — Ram Dass

Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books. — George Gurdjieff

One may say that evil does not exist for subjective man at all, that there exist only different conceptions of good. Nobody ever does anything deliberately in the interests of evil, for the sake of evil. Everybody acts in the interests of good, as he understands it. But everybody understands it in a different way. Consequently men drown, slay, and kill one another in the interests of good. — G.I. Gurdjieff

In order to awaken, first of all one must realize that one is in a state of sleep. And in order to realize that one is indeed in a state of sleep, one must recognize and fully understand the nature of the forces which operate to keep one in the state of sleep, or hypnosis. It is absurd to think that this can be done by seeking information from the very source which induces the hypnosis.
... One thing alone is certain, that man's slavery grows and increases. Man is becoming a willing slave. He no longer needs chains. He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it. And this is the most terrible thing that can happen to a man. — G.I. Gurdjieff

To know means to know all. Not to know all means not to know. In order to know all, it is only necessary to know a little. But, in order to know this little, it is first necessary to know pretty much. — G.I. Gurdjieff