---
title: "Best Learning Quotes by Idries Shah"
description: "45 Learning quotes by Idries Shah. Plus more from Idries Shah and more Learning sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/idries-shah-450_guide_the-sufis-are-unanimous-that-a-guide-she_2319339.jpg"
---

> [“The Sufis are unanimous that a Guide (Sheikh) is absolutely essential, though never available on demand: 'the Sufis are not merchants'.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/the-sufis-are-unanimous-that-a-guide-sheikh-is-absolutely-essential/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f69/idries-shah-450_guide_the-sufis-are-unanimous-that-a-guide-she_2319339.jpg)

> [“Someone says that I haven’t taught him anything that he can remember. He can’t understand yet that that’s precisely what I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/someone-says-that-i-haven-t-taught-him-anything-that-he-can-remember/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/idries-shah-450_idries-shah_someone-says-that-i-haven-t-taught-him-a_2605361.jpg)

> [“Assume that you are part-hypocrite and part heedless, and you will not be far wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/assume-that-you-are-part-hypocrite-and-part-heedless-and-you-will-not/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a95/idries-shah-450_learning_assume-that-you-are-part-hypocrite-and-p_1780352.jpg)

> [“There is no wisdom where there is no common sense: it cannot under those conditions find any expression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/there-is-no-wisdom-where-there-is-no-common-sense-it-cannot-under/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/idries-shah-450_common-sense_there-is-no-wisdom-where-there-is-no-com_611303.jpg)

> [“Study institutions may become visible when the head is more emptied of imaginings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/study-institutions-may-become-visible-when-the-head-is-more-emptied/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a96/idries-shah-450_automatism_study-institutions-may-become-visible-wh_268393.jpg)

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## 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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