Quotes by G. I. Gurdjieff

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

One of the strongest motives for wishing to work on yourself is the realization that you may die at any moment.

To know all, it is necessary to know very little; but to know that very little, one must first know pretty much.

If you help others, you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in one hundred years, but you will be helped. Nature must pay off the debt. It is a mathematical law and all life is mathematics.

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.

Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.

Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books.

Most men will renounce any pleasures you like but they will not give up their suffering.