“Anybody or anything may stand between you and knowledge if you are unfit for it.”

“One can give or withhold in a manner far more effective, sophisticated, useful, which is quite invisible to people who think that giving or withholding is done by external assessment. If you seek some mark of favour or 'promotion', know that you are not ready for it. Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible. Nobody can stand between you and knowledge if you are fit for it.”

“The more you look at 'common knowledge', the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge.No real knowledge is common.”

“Knowledge is something which you can use.Belief is something which uses you.”

“MAN: Kick him-he'll forgive you. Flatter him-he may or may not see through you. But ignore him and he'll hate you”

“A certain person may have, as you say, a wonderful presence; I do not know. What I do know is that he has a perfectly delightful absence.”

“The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.”