G. I. Gurdjieff

A man may be born but in order to be born he must first die and in order to die he must first awake.

A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering.

Common aim is stronger than blood.

Religion is doing; a man does not merely think his religion or feel it, he "lives" his religion as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion but fantasy or philosophy.

Wish' is the most powerful thing in the world. Higher than God.

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.

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.

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.

I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself.

If you want to lose your faith, make friends with a priest.

A sin is something which is not necessary.

Common aim is stronger than blood.

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.

Sincerity is the key which will open the door through which you will see your separate parts, and you will see something quite new. You must go on trying to be sincere. Each day you put on a mask, and you must take it off little by little.

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.

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.

A "sin" is something which is not necessary.