“It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.”

“The union of the mind and intuition which brings about illumination, and the development which the Sufis seek, is based upon love.”

“The Sufis are unanimous that a Guide (Sheikh) is absolutely essential, though never available on demand: 'the Sufis are not merchants'.”

“Scholars of the East and West have heroically consecrated their whole working lives to making available, by means of their own disciplines, Sufi literary and philosophical material to the world at large. In many cases they have faithfully recorded the Sufis' own reiteration that the Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.”

“The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.”

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

“Exaggeration is a standard peculiarity of man. To deprecate is often a form of exaggeration which people do not notice, because it appears to be its opposite.”