Gurdjieff Quotes

Quotes by Gurdjieff

This is a compilation of aphorisms about the Fourth Way. The compilation contains quotes from G. I. Gurdjieff himself as well as those from his students. The sayings are a source of inspiration and encourage to think about one’s own being and actions.

Many students have recorded Gurdjieff’s aphorisms in their books and manuscripts. This was done without exception by subsequently writing down what was said by him during the many meetings, public speeches and during Movements classes. Gurdjieff’s words impress with their directness, insight and immense depth.

Gurdjieff quotes on the Fourth Way

2023-11-14T07:32:23+00:00

„In order to be a real actor, one must be a real man. A real man can be an actor and a real actor can be a man. Everyone should try to be an actor. This is a high aim. The aim of every religion, of every knowledge, is to be an actor. But at present all are actors.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:36:10+00:00

„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… Accept nothing you cannot verify for yourself.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:36:54+00:00

„You should forget about morality. Conversations about morality are simply empty talk. Your aim is inner morality.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:35:38+00:00

„Go out one clear starlit night to some open space and look up at the sky, at those millions of worlds over your head. Remember that perhaps on each of them swarm billions of beings, similar to you or perhaps superior to you in their organization. Look at the Milky Way. The earth cannot even be called a grain of sand in this infinity. It dissolves and vanishes, and with it, you. Where are you?“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:32:52+00:00

„All religions speak about death during this life on earth. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die? False confidence in one’s own knowledge, self-love and egoism. Our egoism must be broken. We must realize that we are very complicated machines, and so this process of breakting is bound to be a long and difficult task. Before real growth becomes possible, our personality must die.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:34:28+00:00

„It is the same with everything else, with food, with pleasures, with sleep; with everything there is a limit to what is necessary. After this “sin” begins. This is something that must be grasped, a “sin” is something which is not necessary.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:33:47+00:00

„We never accomplish what we intend doing, in big and little things. We go to si, and return to do. Similarly, self-development is impossible without additional force from without and also from within.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:35:53+00:00

„Whoever wishes to love his neighbor must begin by trying to love plants and animals. Whoever does not love life does not love God.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:32:08+00:00

„The secret of being able to assimilate the involving part of air is to try to realize your true significance, and the true significance of those around you… 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.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:37:21+00:00

„It is very difficult to explain what takes place in me when I see or hear anything majestic which allows no doubt that it proceeds from the actualization of Our Maker Creator. Each time, my tears flow of themselves. I weep, that is to say, it weeps in me, not from grief, no, but as if from tenderness.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff Movements Sacred Dances Alhambra web

Wenn unser Ziel eine harmonische Entwicklung des Menschen ist, so sind uns Tänze und Bewegungen ein Mittel, um Gedanken und Gefühle mit den Bewegungen des Körpers zu verbinden und diese gemeinsam zu manifestieren. In allen Dingen streben wir danach, etwas zu entwickeln, was nicht direkt oder auf mechanische Weise entwickelt werden kann.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

Quotes by Gurdjieff

This is a compilation of aphorisms about the Fourth Way. The compilation contains quotes from G. I. Gurdjieff himself as well as those from his students. The sayings are a source of inspiration and encourage to think about one’s own being and actions.

Many students have recorded Gurdjieff’s aphorisms in their books and manuscripts. This was done without exception by subsequently writing down what was said by him during the many meetings, public speeches and during Movements classes. Gurdjieff’s words impress with their directness, insight and immense depth.

Gurdjieff quotes on the Fourth Way

2023-11-14T07:32:23+00:00

„In order to be a real actor, one must be a real man. A real man can be an actor and a real actor can be a man. Everyone should try to be an actor. This is a high aim. The aim of every religion, of every knowledge, is to be an actor. But at present all are actors.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:36:10+00:00

„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… Accept nothing you cannot verify for yourself.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:36:54+00:00

„You should forget about morality. Conversations about morality are simply empty talk. Your aim is inner morality.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:35:38+00:00

„Go out one clear starlit night to some open space and look up at the sky, at those millions of worlds over your head. Remember that perhaps on each of them swarm billions of beings, similar to you or perhaps superior to you in their organization. Look at the Milky Way. The earth cannot even be called a grain of sand in this infinity. It dissolves and vanishes, and with it, you. Where are you?“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:32:52+00:00

„All religions speak about death during this life on earth. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die? False confidence in one’s own knowledge, self-love and egoism. Our egoism must be broken. We must realize that we are very complicated machines, and so this process of breakting is bound to be a long and difficult task. Before real growth becomes possible, our personality must die.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:34:28+00:00

„It is the same with everything else, with food, with pleasures, with sleep; with everything there is a limit to what is necessary. After this “sin” begins. This is something that must be grasped, a “sin” is something which is not necessary.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:33:47+00:00

„We never accomplish what we intend doing, in big and little things. We go to si, and return to do. Similarly, self-development is impossible without additional force from without and also from within.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:35:53+00:00

„Whoever wishes to love his neighbor must begin by trying to love plants and animals. Whoever does not love life does not love God.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:32:08+00:00

„The secret of being able to assimilate the involving part of air is to try to realize your true significance, and the true significance of those around you… 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.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:37:21+00:00

„It is very difficult to explain what takes place in me when I see or hear anything majestic which allows no doubt that it proceeds from the actualization of Our Maker Creator. Each time, my tears flow of themselves. I weep, that is to say, it weeps in me, not from grief, no, but as if from tenderness.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

Obligolnian Strivings

All the beings of this planet then began to work in order to have in their consciousness this Divine function of genuine conscience, and for this purpose, as everywhere in the Universe, they transubstantiated in themselves what are called the ‘being-obligolnian-strivings’ which consist of the following five, namely:

The first Striving

to have in their ordinary being existence everything satisfying and really necessary for their planetary body.

The second Striving

to have a constant and unflagging instinctive need for self-perfection in the sense of being.

The third Striving

the conscious striving to know ever more and more concerning the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance.

The fourth Striving

the striving from the beginning of their existence to pay for their arising and their individuality as quickly as possible, in order afterwards to be free to lighten as much as possible the Sorrow of our COMMON FATHER.

The fifth Striving

the striving always to assist the most rapid perfecting of other beings, both those similar to oneself and those of other forms, up to the degree of the sacred ‘Martfotai,’ that is, up to the degree of self individuality.

(G. I. Gurdjieff: Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson – The Organization for Man’s Existence Created by the Very Saintly Ashiata Shiemash)

Gurdjieff Zitate Quotes Kalligraphie Prieure Inschrift Study House

Gurdjieff’s aphorisms were calligraphed on the walls of the Prieuré study house in characters designed by Alexander de Salzmann. The phonetic letters werde derived from the persian alphabet.

Prieuré Walls

G. I. Gurdjieff founded his “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man” in the Prieuré des Basses Loges in 1922. The following aphorisms were written on the walls of the study house, intended to remember the students of the aim and purpose of their stay in the Prieuré:

  • 1

    Like what “it” does not like.

  • 2

    The highest that a man can attain is to be able to do.

  • 3
    The worse the conditions of life the more productive the Work, always provided you remember the Work.
  • 4

    Remember yourself always and everywhere.

  • 5

    Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself—only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.

  • 6

    Here we can only direct and create conditions, but not help.

  • 7

    Know that this house can be useful only to those who have recognized their nothingness and who believe in the possibility of changing.

  • 8

    If you already know it is bad and do it, you commit a sin difficult to redress.

  • 9

    The chief means of happiness in this life is the ability to consider externally always, internally never.

  • 10

    Do not love art with your feelings.

  • 11

    A true sign of a good man is if he loves his father and mother.

  • 12

    Judge others by yourself and you will rarely be mistaken.

  • 13

    Only help him who is not an idler.

  • 14

    Respect every religion.

  • 15

    I love him who loves work.

  • 16

    We can only strive to be able to be Christians.

  • 17

    Don’t judge a man by the tales of others.

  • 18

    Consider what people think of you—not what they say.

  • 19

    Take the understanding of the East and the knowledge of the West—and then seek.

  • 20

    Only he who can take care of what belongs to others may have his own.

  • 21

    Only conscious suffering has any sense.

  • 22

    It is better to be temporarily an egoist than never to be just.

  • 23

    Practice love first on animals, they are more sensitive.

  • 24

    By teaching others you will learn yourself.

  • 25

    Remember that here work is not for work’s sake but is only a means.

  • 26

    Only he can be just who is able to put himself in the position of others.

  • 27

    If you have not by nature a critical mind your staying here is useless.

  • 28

    He who has freed himself of the disease of “tomorrow” has a chance to attain what he came here for.

  • 29

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

  • 30

    Rest comes not from the quantity but from the quality of sleep.

  • 31

    Sleep little without regret.

  • 32

    The energy spent on active inner work is then and there transformed into a fresh supply, but that spent on passive work is lost for ever.

  • 33

    One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on yourself is to realize that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind.

  • 34

    Conscious love evokes the same in response. Emotional love evokes the opposite. Physical love depends on type and polarity.

  • 35

    Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith is foolishness.

  • 36

    Hope, when bold, is strength. Hope, with doubt, is cowardice. Hope, with fear, is weakness.

  • 37

    Man is given a definite number of experiences—economizing them, he prolongs his life.

  • 38

    Here there are neither Russians nor English, Jews nor Christians, but only those who pursue one aim—to be able to be.

Writings of the Prieure Study House

Gurdjieff’s aphorisms were calligraphed on the walls of the Prieuré study house in characters designed by Alexander de Salzmann. The phonetic letters werde derived from the persian alphabet.

Prieuré Walls

G. I. Gurdjieff founded his “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man” in the Prieuré des Basses Loges in 1922. The following aphorisms were written on the walls of the study house, intended to remember the students of the aim and purpose of their stay in the Prieuré:

  • 1

    Like what “it” does not like.

  • 2

    The highest that a man can attain is to be able to do.

  • 3
    The worse the conditions of life the more productive the Work, always provided you remember the Work.
  • 4

    Remember yourself always and everywhere.

  • 5

    Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself—only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.

  • 6

    Here we can only direct and create conditions, but not help.

  • 7

    Know that this house can be useful only to those who have recognized their nothingness and who believe in the possibility of changing.

  • 8

    If you already know it is bad and do it, you commit a sin difficult to redress.

  • 9

    The chief means of happiness in this life is the ability to consider externally always, internally never.

  • 10

    Do not love art with your feelings.

  • 11

    A true sign of a good man is if he loves his father and mother.

  • 12

    Judge others by yourself and you will rarely be mistaken.

  • 13

    Only help him who is not an idler.

  • 14

    Respect every religion.

  • 15

    I love him who loves work.

  • 16

    We can only strive to be able to be Christians.

  • 17

    Don’t judge a man by the tales of others.

  • 18

    Consider what people think of you—not what they say.

  • 19

    Take the understanding of the East and the knowledge of the West—and then seek.

  • 20

    Only he who can take care of what belongs to others may have his own.

  • 21

    Only conscious suffering has any sense.

  • 22

    It is better to be temporarily an egoist than never to be just.

  • 23

    Practice love first on animals, they are more sensitive.

  • 24

    By teaching others you will learn yourself.

  • 25

    Remember that here work is not for work’s sake but is only a means.

  • 26

    Only he can be just who is able to put himself in the position of others.

  • 27

    If you have not by nature a critical mind your staying here is useless.

  • 28

    He who has freed himself of the disease of “tomorrow” has a chance to attain what he came here for.

  • 29

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

  • 30

    Rest comes not from the quantity but from the quality of sleep.

  • 31

    Sleep little without regret.

  • 32

    The energy spent on active inner work is then and there transformed into a fresh supply, but that spent on passive work is lost for ever.

  • 33

    One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on yourself is to realize that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind.

  • 34

    Conscious love evokes the same in response. Emotional love evokes the opposite. Physical love depends on type and polarity.

  • 35

    Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith is foolishness.

  • 36

    Hope, when bold, is strength. Hope, with doubt, is cowardice. Hope, with fear, is weakness.

  • 37

    Man is given a definite number of experiences—economizing them, he prolongs his life.

  • 38

    Here there are neither Russians nor English, Jews nor Christians, but only those who pursue one aim—to be able to be.

Prieuré Walls

G. I. Gurdjieff founded his “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man” in the Prieuré des Basses Loges in 1922. The following aphorisms were written on the walls of the study house, intended to remember the students of the aim and purpose of their stay in the Prieuré:

  • 1

    Like what “it” does not like.

  • 2

    The highest that a man can attain is to be able to do.

  • 3
    The worse the conditions of life the more productive the Work, always provided you remember the Work.
  • 4

    Remember yourself always and everywhere.

  • 5

    Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself—only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.

  • 6

    Here we can only direct and create conditions, but not help.

  • 7

    Know that this house can be useful only to those who have recognized their nothingness and who believe in the possibility of changing.

  • 8

    If you already know it is bad and do it, you commit a sin difficult to redress.

  • 9

    The chief means of happiness in this life is the ability to consider externally always, internally never.

  • 10

    Do not love art with your feelings.

  • 11

    A true sign of a good man is if he loves his father and mother.

  • 12

    Judge others by yourself and you will rarely be mistaken.

  • 13

    Only help him who is not an idler.

  • 14

    Respect every religion.

  • 15

    I love him who loves work.

  • 16

    We can only strive to be able to be Christians.

  • 17

    Don’t judge a man by the tales of others.

  • 18

    Consider what people think of you—not what they say.

  • 19

    Take the understanding of the East and the knowledge of the West—and then seek.

  • 20

    Only he who can take care of what belongs to others may have his own.

  • 21

    Only conscious suffering has any sense.

  • 22

    It is better to be temporarily an egoist than never to be just.

  • 23

    Practice love first on animals, they are more sensitive.

  • 24

    By teaching others you will learn yourself.

  • 25

    Remember that here work is not for work’s sake but is only a means.

  • 26

    Only he can be just who is able to put himself in the position of others.

  • 27

    If you have not by nature a critical mind your staying here is useless.

  • 28

    He who has freed himself of the disease of “tomorrow” has a chance to attain what he came here for.

  • 29

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

  • 30

    Rest comes not from the quantity but from the quality of sleep.

  • 31

    Sleep little without regret.

  • 32

    The energy spent on active inner work is then and there transformed into a fresh supply, but that spent on passive work is lost for ever.

  • 33

    One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on yourself is to realize that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind.

  • 34

    Conscious love evokes the same in response. Emotional love evokes the opposite. Physical love depends on type and polarity.

  • 35

    Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith is foolishness.

  • 36

    Hope, when bold, is strength. Hope, with doubt, is cowardice. Hope, with fear, is weakness.

  • 37

    Man is given a definite number of experiences—economizing them, he prolongs his life.

  • 38

    Here there are neither Russians nor English, Jews nor Christians, but only those who pursue one aim—to be able to be.

Gurdjieff
Quotes

2023-11-14T07:32:23+00:00

„In order to be a real actor, one must be a real man. A real man can be an actor and a real actor can be a man. Everyone should try to be an actor. This is a high aim. The aim of every religion, of every knowledge, is to be an actor. But at present all are actors.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:36:10+00:00

„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… Accept nothing you cannot verify for yourself.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:36:54+00:00

„You should forget about morality. Conversations about morality are simply empty talk. Your aim is inner morality.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:35:38+00:00

„Go out one clear starlit night to some open space and look up at the sky, at those millions of worlds over your head. Remember that perhaps on each of them swarm billions of beings, similar to you or perhaps superior to you in their organization. Look at the Milky Way. The earth cannot even be called a grain of sand in this infinity. It dissolves and vanishes, and with it, you. Where are you?“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:32:52+00:00

„All religions speak about death during this life on earth. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die? False confidence in one’s own knowledge, self-love and egoism. Our egoism must be broken. We must realize that we are very complicated machines, and so this process of breakting is bound to be a long and difficult task. Before real growth becomes possible, our personality must die.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:34:28+00:00

„It is the same with everything else, with food, with pleasures, with sleep; with everything there is a limit to what is necessary. After this “sin” begins. This is something that must be grasped, a “sin” is something which is not necessary.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:33:47+00:00

„We never accomplish what we intend doing, in big and little things. We go to si, and return to do. Similarly, self-development is impossible without additional force from without and also from within.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:35:53+00:00

„Whoever wishes to love his neighbor must begin by trying to love plants and animals. Whoever does not love life does not love God.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

2023-11-14T07:32:08+00:00

„The secret of being able to assimilate the involving part of air is to try to realize your true significance, and the true significance of those around you… 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.“

G. I. Gurdjieff
Views from the Real World

2023-11-14T07:37:21+00:00

„It is very difficult to explain what takes place in me when I see or hear anything majestic which allows no doubt that it proceeds from the actualization of Our Maker Creator. Each time, my tears flow of themselves. I weep, that is to say, it weeps in me, not from grief, no, but as if from tenderness.“

G. I. Gurdjieff

This is a compilation of aphorisms about the Fourth Way. The compilation contains quotes from G. I. Gurdjieff himself as well as those from his students. The sayings are a source of inspiration and encourage to think about one’s own being and actions.

Many students have recorded Gurdjieff’s aphorisms in their books and manuscripts. This was done without exception by subsequently writing down what was said by him during the many meetings, public speeches and during Movements classes. Gurdjieff’s words impress with their directness, insight and immense depth.

Gurdjieff quotes on the Fourth Way

Quotes of G. I. Gurdjieff on the Fourth Way
Enneagram - Gurdjieff Movements

Gurdjieff
Movements Seminars

Our weekend seminars offer an insight into the characteristics of the Gurdjieff Work. No prior knowledge of this discipline or other spiritual paths is required.

Participating in the Gurdjieff Movements is an extremely intense experience, especially for beginners. The dancers are confronted with their illusions in a complex way and learn to face and accept them honestly.

Registration

If you are interested in participating, please contact us using the form below.

Enneagram - Gurdjieff Movements

Gurdjieff
Movements Seminars

Our weekend seminars offer an insight into the characteristics of the Gurdjieff Work. No prior knowledge of this discipline or other spiritual paths is required.

Participating in the Gurdjieff Movements is an extremely intense experience, especially for beginners. The dancers are confronted with their illusions in a complex way and learn to face and accept them honestly.

Registration

If you are interested in participating, please contact us using the form below.

Enneagram - Gurdjieff Movements

Gurdjieff
Movements Seminars

Our weekend seminars offer an insight into the characteristics of the Gurdjieff Work. No prior knowledge of this discipline or other spiritual paths is required.

Registration

If you are interested in participating, please contact us using the form below.

Participating in the Gurdjieff Movements is an extremely intense experience, especially for beginners. The dancers are confronted with their illusions in a complex way and learn to face and accept them honestly.

Contact

Contact

Contact