"Sufism, the "secret tradition," is not available on the basis of assumptions which belong to another world, the world of intellect."

"The real challenge is to develop the capacity to see the world as it really is."

"The decline in the influence of religion has been due, in the main, not to religion itself, but to the very shallowness of many practitioners. People who are indoctrinated and mistake implanted obsession for faith, are themselves destroyers of the very thing which they imagine themselves called upon to try to protect.In fact, of course, they have no such call: and their capacity to protect something which is other than their imaginings makes for a comical situation."

"Continuously, in commemoration of the FriendWe drank wine, even before the creation of the vine."

"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."

"The would-be students wish to transcend books.But, ask yourselves: if someone says that books do not contain wisdom, and yet he writes books; books do not contain Sufism, and yet he continues to publish books on Sufism, what is really happening? It really is your duty, and not mine, to ask and to find the answer to that question, if you are interested enough."

"No effort makes a black crow into a white hawk."

"There is no wisdom where there is no common sense: it cannot under those conditions find any expression."

"To seek the truth, you must first recognize that you do not know."

"When you feel least interested in following the Way which you have entered, this may be the time when it is most appropriate for you."

"The important place held by Jesus among the world's six hundred million Moslems... and the agreement of both religions about the necessity for surrender to God as the means of salvation, thus makes it comparatively easy for a Moslem to address himself to Christians: the sympathy and the history are already there."

"That which is capable of perceiving objective reality is, in Sufism, the human soul (ruh)."

"Neither imagine that you are false, nor lash yourself, for both may be forms of self-indulgence."

"True freedom is the absence of attachment."

"The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day."

"If your desire for 'good' is based on greed, it is not good, but greed."

"Opinion is usually something which people have when they lack comprehensive information."

"SENTENCES OF THE KHAJAGANRUDBARI : Heart to heart is an essential means of passing on the secrets of the Path."

"The stupidest man I ever met had a favourite saying. It was: 'What do you think I am, stupid, or something?"

"Sufism is that which succeeds in bringing to man the High Knowledge."

"In the distorting mirror of your mind, an angel can seem to have a devil's face."

"People cannot handle prejudice because they try to deal with the symptom. Prejudice is the symptom, wrong assumptions are the cause.'Prejudice is the daughter of assumption."

"When the Higher Man does something worthy of admiration, it is an evidence of his Mastership, not the object of it."

"The practice of the Sufis is too sublime to have a formal beginning."

"The Apparent is the Bridge to the Real."

"Anyone can see that an ass laden with books remains a donkey. A human being laden with the undigested results of a tussle with thoughts and books, however, still passes for wise."

"The definition of the word 'finished' is: 'This word means finished."

"Sufism is, in fact, not a mystical system, not a religion, but a body of knowledge."

"The selection and following of a spiritual guide is the most important duty of a Sufi."

"Much smoke has been seen, and caused great fear of fire - even when no fire ensued."

"Change only happens when the mind is willing to change."

"I longed to teach, but I had to wait until the desire had left me before I could really do so."

"One of the tragedies of modern times is that people have come to believe that something said by someone in the past, perhaps for illustrative or provocation purposes, actually represents that person's beliefs at the time."

"We are adjured not to burn the candle at both ends.But how many people have verified that physically possible?"

"Dye your hair, certainly. But what can you do for your face?"

"Mediation - Before you learn how to meditate, you must unlearn what you think meditation might be."

"Much travel is needed before the raw man is ripened."

"The great poet Hafiz says that you should dye your prayer-carpet with wine if your teacher tells you to do so."

"None meets harm who knows his capacity."

"What do I sing, and what does my tambourine sing?"

"Please, not again what you studied, how long you spent at it, how many books you wrote, what people thought of you - but: what did you learn?"

"Form is useful, but it is secondary."

"A short time in the presence of the Friends (the Sufis) is better than a hundred years' sincere, obedient dedication."

"If you are uninterested in what I say, there's an end to it. If you like what I say, please try to understand which previous influences have made you like it. If you like some of the things I say, and dislike others, you could try to understand why. If you dislike all I say, why not try to find out what formed your attitude?"

"Real generosity is anonymous to the extent that a man should be prepared even to be considered ungenerous rather than explain it to others."

"Disappointment cannot exist without expectation. "The expected apricot is never as sweet when it reaches the mouth."

"A donkey eats a melon, it remains a donkey."

"In the realm of Greater Understanding, the workshop is dismantled after the work is finished."

"Words have to die if humans are to live."

"It is axiomatic that the attempt to become a Sufi through a desire for personal power as normally understood will not succeed."