If you want to remember yourself, the best thing is not to think about yourself. As long as you think about yourself, you will not remember yourself.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
People live in sleep, do everything in sleep, and do not know they are asleep.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Many people go through life unaware of their true potential and reality, living in a state of unconsciousness.
This quote by P.D. Ouspensky highlights the notion that many individuals navigate through life without being fully aware of their thoughts, actions, and the world around them. It suggests that a majority of people exist in a metaphorical 'sleep', lacking consciousness, critical thinking, and awareness of their deeper selves or the essence of reality. The implication is that true awakening and enlightenment require intentional effort to break free from this slumber and recognize the truth of existence.
Themes
AwarenessConsciousnessRealitySleepEnlightenment
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on mindfulness, one might say, 'As P.D. Ouspensky said, people live in sleep and do not realize their full potential.'
More from P.D. Ouspensky
All quotes βI have become so accustomed to think "scientifically" that I am afraid even to imagine that there may be something else beyond the outer covering of life. I feel like a man condemned to death, whose companions have been hanged and who has already become reconciled to the thought that the same fate awaits him.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
Can one alter oneΒ΄s chief feature?" asked someone else. First it is necessary to know it. If you know it, much will depend on the quality of your knowing. If you know it well, then it is possible to change it.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
We often think we express negative emotions, not because we cannot help it, but because we should express them.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
You can understand other people only as much as you understand yourself and only on the level of your own being. This means you can judge other people's knowledge but you cannot judge their being. You can see in them only as much as you have in yourself. But people always make the mistake of thinking they can judge other people's being. In reality, if they wish to meet and understand people of a higher development than themselves they must work with the aim of changing their being.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
When a man begins to know himself a little he will see in himself many things that are bound to horrify him. So long as a man is not horrified at himself he knows nothing about himself.
P.D. OuspenskyRead
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