It is not enough that there is a collection of people with the common aim of working in unison towards an objective... Aspiration and desire only are not enough.

One can give or withhold in a manner far more effective, sophisticated, useful, which is quite invisible to people who think that giving or withholding is done by external assessment. If you seek some mark of favour or 'promotion', know that you are not ready for it. Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible. Nobody can stand between you and knowledge if you are fit for it.

The Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.

There is a Persian proverb: 'To test that which has been tested is ignorance.' To try to test something without the means of testing is even worse.

Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm.

It is not enough that there is a collection of people with the common aim of working in unison towards an objective... Aspiration and desire only are not enough.

It is not important to have said a thing first, or best - or even most interestingly. What is important is to say it on the right occasion.