REFLECTIONS

Idries Shah

Octagon Press, London, 1988

This pocket-size collection of sayings and stories from real life, and from the author's observations of our mental processes, is a perfect gift book. It's contemporary, fun to read -- like a splash of ice-water for the mind.

Also available from ISHK on audiotape, Code REFL2, and in Spanish text (REFLEXIONES, Code REFX1).

Do you imagine that fables exist only to amuse or instruct, and are based upon fiction? The best ones are delineations of what happens in real life, in the community, and in the individual's mental processes.
--From Reflections © 1968, 1969, 1971, 1988 by The Estate of Idries Shah

TALK
You know him not at all -- so you can talk against him.
You know him slightly -- and you can boast about it.
You know him well -- now you can talk against him again.
--From Reflections, © 1968, 1969, 1971, 1988 by The Estate of Idries Shah

THE MAN AND THE TIGER
A man being followed by a hungry tiger, turned in desperation to face it, and cried: 'Why don't you leave me alone?'
The tiger answered: 'Why don't you stop being so appetising?'
--From Reflections, © 1968, 1969, 1971, 1988 by The Estate of Idries Shah

BBC's 'The Critics' OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR

'The aim is lucidity and a finer sense, and the techniques for achieving it are expert and precise.'
--Sunday Telegraph