24 Quotes & Sayings By Gi Gurdjieff

G.I. Gurdjieff, born Arakcheiev, was a teacher of extraordinary talent and charisma, but also one whom many considered to be a charlatan or at least an imposter. Born in 1866 in Karakalpakstan, Gurdjieff was brought up by his father, an Armenian castaway who had somehow managed to survive the Armenian Genocide. He was raised in an atmosphere of utter poverty and violence resulting from the war between Russia and Turkey that killed his mother, Aida Read more

Gurdjieff spent his early life as a shepherd, then as a soldier in the Turkish Army; he was wounded during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78. He left military service after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. After several years of wandering through Europe, he settled in Moscow where he became a writer for various Moscow newspapers and wrote books which were published by the Moscow publishing house of Izvestia. He had some success as a writer but was unsuccessful as a public speaker.

His first attempts at teaching amounted to no more than three months at one summer camp on the Black Sea coast before he abandoned them altogether. He spent most of his life teaching for just 12 months out of every 7 years until his final days at the Institute for Higher Studies at Fontainebleau in France on October 28th, 1910. During this period Gurdjieff taught only at night because he had no time during the day to prepare for classes. He generally lectured to small groups on subjects such as "The Meaning of Life" or "The Art of Happiness." He later assembled these lectures into books which are now quite popular among both Russians and Westerners alike including Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson (1913), The Life Satisfaction Handbook (1914), What Is Enlightenment? (1917), Twenty-Three Years Among Savages (1923) and Concerning the Spiritual In Man (1925).

He wrote books about art and music but never published anything on literature or philosophy because he considered himself above all these disciplines, claiming that there is only one subject matter worth writing about: "the meaning of life." While living in France he met his French wife Odessa and fathered two daughters with her before they divorced after living together for 30 years. They later reconciled and Odessa died in 1944 following a long illness at age 67. In 1950 Gurdjieff married

1
Knowledge can be acquired by a suitable and complete study, no matter what the starting point is. Only one must know how to 'learn.' What is nearest to us is man; and you are the nearest of all men to yourself. Begin with the study of yourself; remember the saying 'Know thyself. G.I. Gurdjieff
The greatest untold story is the evolution of God.
2
The greatest untold story is the evolution of God. G.I. Gurdjieff
Man must use what he has, not hope for what...
3
Man must use what he has, not hope for what is not. G.I. Gurdjieff
Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith...
4
Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith is foolishness. G.I. Gurdjieff
The one great art is that of making a complete...
5
The one great art is that of making a complete human being of oneself. G.I. Gurdjieff
The cause of every anomaly can be found in woman.
6
The cause of every anomaly can be found in woman. G.I. Gurdjieff
7
Only super-efforts count. G.I. Gurdjieff
8
With thorns in the inner world there will always be roses in the outer world, in law-able compensation. G.I. Gurdjieff
9
I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles: an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle...you must make an intentional contact between these two worlds; then you can crystallize data for the Third World, the World of the Soul. G.I. Gurdjieff
10
If you are working inwardly, Nature will help you. For the man who is working, Nature is sister of charity; she brings him what he needs for his work. If you need money for your work, even if you do nothing to get it, the money will come to you from all sides. G.I. Gurdjieff
11
The only type of sexual relations possible are those with someone who is as advanced and capable as oneself. G.I. Gurdjieff
12
You are in prison. If you wish to get out of prison, the first thing you must do is realize that you are in prison. If you think you are free, you can't escape. G.I. Gurdjieff
13
I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself. G.I. Gurdjieff
14
Wish' is the most powerful thing in the world. Higher than God. G.I. Gurdjieff
15
From looking at your neighbor and realizing his true significance, and that he will die, pity and compassion will arise in you for him and finally you will love him. G.I. Gurdjieff
16
Common aim is stronger than blood. G.I. Gurdjieff
17
Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself – only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity. G.I. Gurdjieff
18
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. G.I. Gurdjieff
19
Man has no individual i. But there are, instead, hundreds and thousands of separate small "i"s, very often entirely unknown to one another, never coming into contact, or, on the contrary, hostile to each other, mutually exclusive and incompatible. Each minute, each moment, man is saying or thinking, "i". And each time his i is different. just now it was a thought, now it is a desire, now a sensation, now another thought, and so on, endlessly. Man is a plurality. Man's name is legion. . G.I. Gurdjieff
20
Now everything that you do is written in red or black in Angel Gabriel's book. Not for everyone is this record kept, but only for those who have taken a position of responsibility. There is a Law of Sins, and if you do not fulfil all your obligations, you will pay. G.I. Gurdjieff
21
As long as our ideas are the same, we will never be apart. G.I. Gurdjieff
22
Live a life of friction. Let yourself be disturbed as much as possible, but observe. G.I. Gurdjieff
23
There is a cosmic law which says that every satisfaction must be paid for with a dissatisfaction. G.I. Gurdjieff