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G. I. Gurdjieff Biography

G. I. Gurdjieff

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (/ˈɡɜːrdʒiˌɛf/; 13 January 1866/1872/1877? – 29 October 1949) commonly known as G. I. Gurdjieff, was a mystic, philosopher, spiritual teacher, and composer of Armenian and Greek descent, born in Alexandrapol (now Gyumri). Gurdjieff taught that most humans do not possess a unified consciousness, and thus live their lives in a state of hypnotic "waking sleep", but that it is possible to transcend to a higher state of consciousness and achieve full human potential. Gurdjieff described a method attempting to do so, calling the discipline "The Work" (connoting "work on oneself") or "the Method". According to his principles and instructions, Gurdjieff's method for awakening one's consciousness unites the methods of the fakir, monk or yogi, and thus he referred to it as the "Fourth Way".

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G. I. Gurdjieff Quotes

A man must first of all understand certain things. He has thousands of false ideas and false conceptions, chiefly about himself, and he must get rid of some of them before beginning to acquire anything new. Otherwise the new will be built on a wrong foundation and the result will be worse than before. To speak the truth is the most difficult thing in the world; one must study a great deal and for a long time in order to speak the truth. The wish alone is not enough. To speak the truth one must know what the truth is and what a lie is, and first of all in oneself. And this nobody wants to know.

Ideas, Lying, Men, Order, Wrong

A considerable percentage of the people we meet on the street are people who are empty inside, that is, they are actually already dead. It is fortunate for us that we do not see and do not know it. If we knew what a number of people are actually dead and what a number of these dead people govern our lives, we should go mad with horror.

Death, Horror, Mad, Numbers, Prayer, Street

Humanity is moving in a circle. The progress in mechanical things of the past hundred years has proceeded at the cost of losing many other things which perhaps were much more important for it.

Losing, Moving, Past, Progress, Years

Remember yourself always and everywhere.

Everywhere, Remember

From my point of view, he can be called a remarkable man who stands out from those around him by the resourcefulness of his mind, and who knows how to be restrained in the manifestations which proceed from his nature, at the same time conducting himself justly and tolerantly towards the weaknesses of others.

Men, Mind, Nature, Proceed, Towards, Views

Man has the possibility of existence after death. But possibility is one thing and the realization of the possibility is quite a different thing.

Death, Different, Dying, Existence, Men, Possibility

If a man could understand all the horror of the lives of ordinary people who are turning around in a circle of insignificant interests and insignificant aims, if he could understand what they are losing, he would understand that there can only be one thing that is serious for him - to escape from the general law, to be free. What can be serious for a man in prison who is condemned to death? Only one thing: How to save himself, how to escape: nothing else is serious.

Circles, General, Law, Men, Serious, Thing

Practice love on animals first; they react better and more sensitively.

Animal, Animals, Firsts, Practice, Sensitively

The crowd neither wants nor seeks knowledge, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interests, try to strengthen its fear and dislike of everything new and unknown. The slavery in which mankind lives is based upon this fear.

Based, Crowd, Leader, Slavery, Trying

Life is real only then, when "I am".

Life, Life Is, Real

In properly organized groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust and even that only for a little while, for the sooner a man begins to verify all he hears the better it is for him.

Groups, Man, Men, Properly, Trust No One, Verify

The only type of sexual relations possible are those with someone who is as advanced and capable as oneself.

Advanced, Oneself, Possible, Relation, Sexual, Type

From looking at your neighbor and realizing his true significance, and that he will die, pity and compassion will arise in you for him and finally you will love him.

Compassion, Looking, Love, Pity, Realizing

One of the strongest motives for wishing to work on yourself is the realization that you may die at any moment - only you must first realize this.

May, Moment, Motives, Realization, Wish

Personality in man is what is "not his own". . . what come from outside, what he has learned, or reflects, all traces of exterior impressions left in the memory.

Impressions, Memories, Men, Personality, Traces

It is the greatest mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.

Change, Continually, Long, Men, Mistake, Seldom

Blessed is he who has a soul, blessed is he who has none, but woe and grief to him who has it in embryo.

Blessed, Grief, Soul, Woe

If you can serve a cup of tea right, you can do anything.

Cups, Right, Serve, Spirituality, Tea

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.

Acceptance, Knowledge, Machine, Self, Spiritual, Understanding

As long as our ideas are the same, we will never be apart.

Apart, Ideas, Long, Same

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