---
title: "2 East and west Quotes By Idries Shah"
description: "2 East and west quotes by Idries Shah. Plus more from Idries Shah and more East and west sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/idries-shah-450_east-and-west_western-society-has-in-the-past-few-deca_449259.jpg"
---

> [“Western society has in the past few decades taken a great step forward, which gives its members a perhaps unparalleled opportunity. This has been due to the final recognition of the way in which people can be (and are) conditioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/western-society-has-in-the-past-few-decades-taken-a-great-step/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99f/idries-shah-450_east-and-west_western-society-has-in-the-past-few-deca_449259.jpg)

> [Scholars of the East and West have heroically consecrated their whole working lives to making available, by means of their own disciplines, Sufi literary and philosophical material to the world at large. In many cases they have faithfully recorded the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/scholars-of-the-east-and-west-have-heroically-consecrated-their-whole/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b2/idries-shah-450_available_scholars-of-the-east-and-west-have-heroi_459729.jpg)

## Other authors on East and west

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-rudyard-kipling-81668.jpg) Rudyard Kipling 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/east-and-west/rudyard-kipling/)

## More by Idries Shah

> [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Teach honesty by all means - you do know what it is, don't you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/teach-honesty-by-all-means-you-do-know-what-it-is-don-t-you/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Sufism is transmitted by means of the human exemplar, the teacher.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/sufism-is-transmitted-by-means-of-the-human-exemplar-the-teacher/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“No existe práctica en aislamiento.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/no-existe-pr-ctica-en-aislamiento/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [A king who feared wasps once decreed that they were abolished. As it happened, they did him no harm. But he was eventually stung…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/a-king-who-feared-wasps-once-decreed-that-they-were-abolished-as-it/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Do not tell your secrets to everyone in this headquarters, Earth. We have surveyed it well. There was nobody to whom to entrust secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/do-not-tell-your-secrets-to-everyone-in-this-headquarters-earth-we/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Sufis are those who have expunged from their minds the human tendencies of envy and enmity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/sufis-are-those-who-have-expunged-from-their-minds-the-human/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Yes, the world is an illusion. But Truth is always being shown there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/yes-the-world-is-an-illusion-but-truth-is-always-being-shown-there/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/it-is-the-message-not-the-man-which-is-important-to-the-sufis/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/the-human-being-whether-he-realises-it-or-not-is-trusting-someone-or/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“Who is the wrong person to criticise? You”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/who-is-the-wrong-person-to-criticise-you/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“You may be able to get the bone down your throat But if it reaches your stomach it will tear your navel. (Gulistan)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/you-may-be-able-to-get-the-bone-down-your-throat-but-if-it-reaches/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [“People are always trying to understand. There is only one way to do that. It is to discover < + i + >why< +…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/people-are-always-trying-to-understand-there-is-only-one-way-to-do/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

> [We view Sufism not as an ideology that molds people to the right way of belief or action, but as an art or science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/we-view-sufism-not-as-an-ideology-that-molds-people-to-the-right-way/)

[Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/)

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