P. D. Ouspensky

Peter D. Ouspensky

(1878 - 1947) Mystic Philosopher, (also known as Piotr Dimianovich Ouspenskii); a student and expositor of G. I. Gurdjieff's teachings

I've found that the chief difficulty for most people was to realize that they had really heard new things: that is things that they had never heard before. They kept translating what they heard into their habitual language. They had ceased to hope and believe there might be anything new.

Essence is what is born in you, personality is what you acquire. Essence is your own, personality is not your own. Personality is too heavy, too strong; it surrounds Essence like a shell, so nothing can reach it directly, everything has to pass through personality. Essence cannot grow in these conditions, but if personality becomes more transparent, impressions and external influences will penetrate through it and reach Essence, and Essence will begin to grow.

The strangest and most fantastic fact about negative emotions is that people actually worship them.

The number of laws is constantly growing in all countries and, owing to this, what is called crime is very often not a crime at all, for it contains no element of violence or harm.

In existing criminology there are concepts: a criminal man, a criminal profession, a criminal society, a criminal sect, and a criminal tribe, but there is no concept of a criminal state, or a criminal government, or criminal legislation. Consequently, the biggest crimes actually escape being called crimes.

By giving to our thoughts the direction which they would have in a moment of consciousness, we can, in this way, induce consciousness.

If a man gives way to all his desires, or panders to them, there will be no inner struggle in him, no 'friction,' no fire. But if, for the sake of attaining a definite aim, he struggles with the desires that hinder him, he will then create a fire which will gradually transform his inner world into a single whole.