Quotations

There are three forces, of the body, mind and feeling. Unless these are together, equally developed and harmonized, a steady connection cannot be made with a higher force. Everything in the Work is a preparation for that connection. That is the aim of the work. The higher energy wishes to but cannot come down to the level of the body unless one works. Only by working can you fulfill your purpose and participate in the life of the cosmos. This is what can give meaning and significance to your life.

Man's possibilities are very great; you cannot conceive even a shadow of what man is capable of attaining. But modern man lives in sleep, in sleep he is born, and in sleep he dies. In the consciousness of the sleeping man his illusions, his dreams are mixed with reality. He lives in a subjective world and he can never escape from it. And this is the reason why he can never make use of all the powers he possesses and why he always lives in only a small part of himself.

All the interests we have related to self change, self alteration, belong only to the driver, that is, are only mental. As regards feeling and body - these parts are not in the least interested in putting self-remembering into practice. And yet the main thing is to change not in the mind, but in the parts that are not interested.

Question put to G.I.Gurdjieff:   Do you know anybody who has reached this higher plane of being?

Answer:   It means nothing if I say yes or no. If I say yes you cannot verify it, and if I say no you are none the wiser. You have no business to believe me. I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself.

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