What is Sufism? Quotes

“Active and Passive Perfection are the Taoist equivalent of the sufi terms Majesty and Beauty.”
― Martin Lings, What is Sufism?

“Atheism or agnosticism can be the revolt of a virtual mystic against the limitations of exoterism; for a man may have in himself, undeveloped, the qualifications for following a spiritual path even in the fullest sense and yet at the same time — and this is more than ever possible in the modem world — he may be ignorant of the existence of religion’s mystical dimension. His atheism or agnosticism may be based on the false assumption that religion coincides exactly with the outward and shallow conception of it that many of its so-called ‘authorities’ exclusively profess. There are souls which are prepared to give either everything or nothing. The inexorable exactingness of Sufism has been known to save those who could be saved by no other means: it has saved them from giving nothing by demanding that they shall give everything.”
― Martin Lings, What is Sufism?