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There is nothing compulsory. One is not asked to violate cherished beliefs or accept any of the ideas presented. Rather, a healthy skepticism is encouraged.

— G. I. Gurdjieff Misattributed

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More quotes by G. I. Gurdjieff

Hope of consciousness is strength
Hope of feelings is slavery
Hope of body is disease.

All and Everything: Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson (1950)

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 Search of the Miraculous (1949)

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

All and Everything: Views from the Real World (1973)

Remember your self always and everywhere.

In right knowledge the study of man must proceed on parallel lines with the study of the world, and the study of the world must run parallel with the study of man.

In Search of the Miraculous (1949)

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Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

Thomas Jefferson Letter to Peter Carr (1787)

I had never doubted my own abilities, but I was quite prepared to believe that "the world" would decline to recognize them.

Colin Wilson Postscript to the Outsider (1967)

Love is the active, working principle in all true faith. It is its very soul, without which it is dead. "Faith works by love."

Jonathan Edwards Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: G. I. Gurdjieff (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.