Real generosity is anonymous to the extent that a man should be prepared even to be considered ungenerous rather than explain it to others.

Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.

The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.

When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for.

Premature independence is the daughter of conceit.

Do not try to be humble: learn humility.

No practice exists in isolation.

If your desire for 'good' is based on greed, it is not good, but greed.

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

Exercise power by means of kindness, and you may be causing more damage than you could by cruelty. Neither approach is correct.

If you really want to learn, do not be surprised if someone tries to teach you. And do not lightly reject the method.

There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.

Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades, do what you need to and get it back.

I'm not a spiritual person at all, but I do think that the world doesn't have to be as lonely as it is.

I wanted to learn how to do everything a person could do on a guitar. Of course, that was impossible.

The love of art in its many forms lives on and enables us to enjoy the past, the present, and look with confidence to the future.

A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another, and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the dominant power in the government.

We should be similarly wary of accepting common opinions; we should judge them by the ways of reason not by popular vote.

COULD I PASS A WEEK IN THE INSANE WARD AT BLACKWELL'S ISLAND? I SAID I COULD AND I WOULD. AND I DID.

If people like you, they will like your magic. If you are an artist at what you do, they will sing your praises and applaud your artistry.

As it is, lovers of inquiry must follow their beloved wherever it may lead.