The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness, and 'consciousness' cannot evolve unconsciously. The evolution of man is the evolution of his will, and 'will' cannot evolve involuntarily.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the idea that individuals are constantly evolving and cannot be defined by a single moment in time.
G. I. Gurdjieff highlights the dynamic nature of human existence, suggesting that people are in a constant state of flux and transformation. This perspective challenges the notion of a fixed identity and encourages a deeper understanding of the self as a process that is always changing, thus reflecting the complexities of human life and experience.
Themes
ChangeIdentityTransformationPhilosophyExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on personal growth, you might use this quote to illustrate how individuals evolve over time.
More from G. I. Gurdjieff
All quotes →Conscious faith is freedom. Emotional faith is slavery. Mechanical faith is foolishness.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself — only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
Laughter relieves us of superfluous energy, which, if it remained unused, might become negative, that is, poison. Laughter is the antidote.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
If a man could understand all the horror of the lives of ordinary people who are turning around in a circle of insignificant interests and insignificant aims, if he could understand what they are losing, he would understand that there can only be one thing that is serious for him - to escape from the general law, to be free. What can be serious for a man in prison who is condemned to death? Only one thing: How to save himself, how to escape: nothing else is serious.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
In order to understand the interrelation of truth and falsehood in life, a man must understand falsehood in himself, the constant incessant lies he tells himself.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
Similar quotes
Storytellers are a threat. They threaten all champions of control, they frighten usurpers of the right-to-freedom of the human spirit -- in state, in church or mosque, in party congress, in the university or wherever.
Chinua AchebeRead
The love of power, like the love of money, increases with the possession of it; and we know in what ruin these baneful passions have involved human societies in all ages when they have been let loose and suffered to rage uncontrolled - There is no restraint like the pervading eye of the virtuous citizens.
Samuel AdamsRead
Men are more compassionate/(nobler)/magnanimous/generous than God; for men forgive their dead, but God does not.
Mark TwainRead
A man who has no office to go, to I don't care who he is, is a trial of which you can have no conception.
George Bernard ShawRead
Try to understand the ego. Analyze it, dissect it, watch it, observe it, from as many angles as possible. And don't be in a hurry to sacrifice it, otherwise the greatest egoist is born: the person who thinks he is humble, the person who thinks that he has no ego.
RajneeshRead
To a hungry man, a piece of bread is the face of God.
Mahatma GandhiRead