--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Talking about straws and camels' backs is…" description: "\"Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. If you have enough camels, no backs need be broken.\" — Idries Shah" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/idries-shah-450_animal_talking-about-straws-and-camels-backs-is_3146362.jpg" --- # Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of… ![“Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. If you have enough camels, no backs need be broken.” quote by Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/idries-shah-450_animal_talking-about-straws-and-camels-backs-is_3146362.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/idries-shah-450_animal_talking-about-straws-and-camels-backs-is_3146362.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/idries-shah-450_animal_talking-about-straws-and-camels-backs-is_3146362.jpg) > “Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. If you have enough camels, no backs need be broken.” [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The saying suggests that with enough resources, a problem can be avoided rather than solved directly. **In simple terms:** More resources let you bypass issues. Key Takeaway Increase capacity to sidestep obstacles. Themes resourcefulness strategy problem solving Mood pragmatic analytical Type advisory strategic When to use this quote - business scaling - logistics planning - resource allocation - conflict avoidance Key Concepts risk management abundance mindset Questions to Reflect On - How can you create more “camels” in your situation? - What costs are hidden in avoiding the problem? A Different Perspective If resources are limited, the problem remains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Backs Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backs-just-768308/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Camels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/camels/) [Camels Backs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/camels-backs-5628929/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Just one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-one/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [One way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-way/) [Preparation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preparation/) [Straws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straws/) [Straws Camels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straws-camels-5628928/) [Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking/) [Talking Straws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking-straws-5628930/) [Things Camels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-camels-5628931/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [There are no take-backs—just as in life. You must think before you move.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-polgar/there-are-no-take-backs-just-as-in-life-you-must-think-before-you-move/) [Susan Polgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-polgar/) > [I believe God put that itchy spot on our backs just exactly where we can't reach it in order to encourage us be nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-nielsen-hayden/i-believe-god-put-that-itchy-spot-on-our-backs-just-exactly-where-we/) [Teresa Nielsen Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-nielsen-hayden/) > [Don't have to do anything extra, don't have to put any S's on our chests, capes on our backs. We just have to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-bridgewater/don-t-have-to-do-anything-extra-don-t-have-to-put-any-s-s-on-our/) [Teddy Bridgewater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-bridgewater/) > [“Show a man too many camels' bones, or show them to him too often, and he will not be able to recognize a camel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/show-a-man-too-many-camels-bones-or-show-them-to-him-too-often-and-he-2/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Show a man too many camels' bones,or show them to him too often,and he will not be able to recognize a camel when he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/show-a-man-too-many-camels-bones-or-show-them-to-him-too-often-and-he/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [You'd think that would have been forgotten long ago. But no, no sooner has a little grass grown over it than some clumsy camel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerstin-gier/you-d-think-that-would-have-been-forgotten-long-ago-but-no-no-sooner/) [Kerstin Gier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerstin-gier/) > [It's the camel's nose in the tent. Look at Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Idi Amin--every one of these monsters, on seizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/it-s-the-camel-s-nose-in-the-tent-look-at-stalin-mussolini-hitler-mao/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [“I want to spit back at a camel and ask him what he's so sour about. Maybe camels are the real 'Old Ones' on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-want-to-spit-back-at-a-camel-and-ask-him-what-he-s-so-sour-about/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My heart has become capable of every form: It is a pasture for gazelles And a monastery for Christian monks, And the pilgrim's Ka'ba,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-arabi/my-heart-has-become-capable-of-every-form-it-is-a-pasture-for/) [Ibn Arabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-arabi/) > [Camels are snobbish and sheep, unintelligent; water buffaloes, neurasthenic-- even murderous. Reindeer seem over-serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/camels-are-snobbish-and-sheep-unintelligent-water-buffaloes/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Death is a black camel, which kneels at the gates of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdelkader-el-djezairi/death-is-a-black-camel-which-kneels-at-the-gates-of-all/) [Abdelkader El Djezairi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdelkader-el-djezairi/) > [Rich folks may ride on camels, but it ain't so easy for 'em to see out of a needle's eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/rich-folks-may-ride-on-camels-but-it-ain-t-so-easy-for-em-to-see-out/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Astride a horse I am not, nor camel-like carry a load, Subjects I have none, nor follow any sultan's code; I worry not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadi/astride-a-horse-i-am-not-nor-camel-like-carry-a-load-subjects-i-have/) [Saadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadi/) > [Expediency is a law of nature. The camel is a wonderful animal, but the desert made the camel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/expediency-is-a-law-of-nature-the-camel-is-a-wonderful-animal-but-the/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [In cities it is useless to look at the stars or to describe them, worship them, or seek direction from them. When lost, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rawi-hage/in-cities-it-is-useless-to-look-at-the-stars-or-to-describe-them/) [Rawi Hage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rawi-hage/) ## 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/) [Explore all 365 Idries Shah quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. 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