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"When there is a true or useful thing, there is sure to be a counterfeit."
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"Who are you not to be yourself?"

"It is important to live authentically who you are, to show yourself to your date as the bond between you builds."

"I like a look of agony, because I know it's true."

"Many of us have gotten so used to playing to the expectations of society, of our families,of our friends, and of our minds, that we don't even allow ourselves to consider who we really are or what we really need. We ignore the callsof our hearts, giving our lives, instead, to thedemands of an outside world built on fitting in.We can stop this, right now. We can choose to listen to ourselves, to heed our deepest callings,whatever they are. We can give ourselves thefreedom to be whoever the hell we want to bein this world. Right now, if we choose to.And why wouldn't we?"

"I take my cues from the world around me and carefully paint a self-portrait that the world can't help but accept. However, I would be much wiser to put down all such artistic notions and hold up the portrait of me painted by God simply because that is a picture at which the world can't help but marvel."

"Of all individuals, the hated, the shunned, and the peculiar are arguably most themselves. They wear no masks whatsoever in order to be accepted and liked; they do seem most guarded, but only by their own hands: as compared to the populace, they are naked."

"For how long are you going to continue hiding your true original self because you are very afraid of what some people might say or think about you? Isn't it time for you to dare to never allow others to dictate the direction of your life?"

"People usually reveal only those aspects of life that enhance their personality & image, but in my case I love amusing people by being myself!"

"Interestingly, being yourself allows others to be themselves. Even with crazy imperfections, being a bona fide genuine person is the best any of us can be-messy flaws and all!"

"There is no great reward for being emotionally withdrawn, no pity prize for bottling your frustration. No one is coming to congratulate your chronic self-repression. By opening up, maybe you will inconvenience some people. Maybe you will trigger some conflict. Maybe you will be rejected, criticized, judged. Everything comes with a price and everything has its compensation. Authenticity may require pain, but it also opens the doors to joy, creativity, self-respect, empathy. Self-repression, on the other hand, costs you all the beauty of the world in exchange for a prison of comfort. Is it really worth it? Isn't it time to break free?"
Explore more quotes by Idries Shah


"Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions."


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


"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."
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