Top 12 Quotes & Sayings by George Gurdjieff

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an Armenian philosopher George Gurdjieff.

Last updated on November 4, 2024.

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was a Russian philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, and composer of Armenian and Greek descent, born in Alexandropol, Russian Empire. Gurdjieff taught that most humans do not possess a unified consciousness and thus live their lives in a state of hypnotic "waking sleep", but that it is possible to awaken to a higher state of consciousness and achieve full human potential. Gurdjieff described a method attempting to do so, calling the discipline "The Work" or "the System". According to his principles and instructions, Gurdjieff's method for awakening one's consciousness unites the methods of the fakir, monk and yogi, and thus he referred to it as the "Fourth Way".

Armenian - Philosopher | March 31, 1866 - October 29, 1949

Source: Wikipedia

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

George Gurdjieff

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.

George Gurdjieff

A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.

George Gurdjieff

A man can only attain knowledge with the help of those who possess it. This must be understood from the very beginning. One must learn from him who knows.

George Gurdjieff

Without struggle, no progress and no result. Every breaking of habit produces a change in the machine.

George Gurdjieff

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.

George Gurdjieff

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.

George Gurdjieff

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.

George Gurdjieff

A 'sin' is something which is not necessary.

George Gurdjieff

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

George Gurdjieff

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.

George Gurdjieff

Laughter relieves us of superfluous energy, which, if it remained unused, might become negative, that is, poison. Laughter is the antidote.

George Gurdjieff