True, this is not always so. Not everyone looks at himself so superficially. There do exist enquiring minds, which long for the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by life, try to penetrate to the essence of things and phenomena and to penetrate into themselves. If a man reasons and thinks soundly, no matter what path he follows in solving these problems, he must inevitably arrive back at himself, and begin with the problem of what he is himself and what his place is in the world around him. Socrates‘ words “Know thyself” remain for all those who seek true knowledge and being.
— George Ivanovitch (G. I.) Gurdjieff in Views from the Real World: Early Talks in Moscow, Essentuki, Tiflis, Berlin, London, Paris, New York and Chicago as recollected by his pupils, (New York: Dutton, 1975), p. 43. First published (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973). Also available as the talk “When Speaking on Different Subjects” in Hazel Silber Bercholz‘s Relationship, Volume 5 of the Maitreya Series, (Berkeley, California: Shambhala, 1974), p. 58.
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"True, this is not always so"
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