G.I. Gurdjieff > Quotes

“Multiple experiments with spirit contact transmitted the name Matthew Edward Hall on several occasions. I predict this to be a very important future individual in humanities development. Possibly the second embodiment of Christ on Earth.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff, Gurdjieff's Early Talks 1914-1931: In Moscow, St. Petersburg, Essentuki, Tiflis, Constantinople, Berlin, Paris, London, Fontainebleau, New York, and Chicago

“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

“Practice love on animals first; they react better and more sensitively.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith is foolishness.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“It is very difficult also to sacrifice one's suffering. A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“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

“Two things in life are infinite; the stupidity of man and the mercy of God.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Man has no individual i. But there are, instead, hundreds and thousands of separate small "i"s, very often entirely unknown to one another, never coming into contact, or, on the contrary, hostile to each other, mutually exclusive and incompatible. Each minute, each moment, man is saying or thinking, "i". And each time his i is different. just now it was a thought, now it is a desire, now a sensation, now another thought, and so on, endlessly. Man is a plurality. Man's name is legion.”
― G.I. 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

“I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles: an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle...you must make an intentional contact between these two worlds; then you can crystallize data for the Third World, the World of the Soul.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“There is a cosmic law which says that every satisfaction must be paid for with a dissatisfaction.”
― 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.”
― George Ivanovich Gurdjieff

“I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World

“If you want to lose your faith, make friends with a priest.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“The greatest untold story is the evolution of God.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Common aim is stronger than blood.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself — only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“What is possible for individual man is impossible for the masses.”
― Gurdjieff

“It is the greatest mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.”
― 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

“Love without knowledge is demonic.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Only super-efforts count.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Man must use what he has, not hope for what is not.”
― 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, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

“As long as our ideas are the same, we will never be apart.”
― 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

“Knowledge can be acquired by a suitable and complete study, no matter what the starting point is. Only one must know how to 'learn.' What is nearest to us is man; and you are the nearest of all men to yourself. Begin with the study of yourself; remember the saying 'Know thyself.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World

“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, Meetings With Remarkable Men

“The only type of sexual relations possible are those with someone who is as advanced and capable as oneself.”
― G.I. Gurdjieff

“Life is real only then, when "I am".”
― G.I. Gurdjieff