C.S. Nott
‘…When Gurdjieff spoke about the uselessness of most of our suffering…one was reminded of the aphorism: ‘One of the chief aids to felicity is to be able to consider exteriorly always; interiorly, never.’ —The Teachings of Gurdjieff, C.S. Nott, New York And Fontainebleau 1923-5
G.I. Gurdjieff
All people are the same, yet each is quick to see a mote in another’s eye. We are all blind to our worst faults. If a man is sincere with himself, he enters into another’s position, and knows that he himself is no better. If you wish to be better, try to help another…
We must always start with ourselves and take ourselves as an example, for we cannot see another man through the mask he wears. Only if we know ourselves can we see others, for all people are alike inside, and others are the same as we are. They have the same good intentions to be better, but they cannot be; it is just as hard for them; they are equally unhappy, equally full of regrets afterwards. You must forgive what there is in them now, and remember the future… —Views From the Real World, New York, March 1, 1924, The education of children
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“Freedom is first of all freedom from identification.
“After general forms of identification attention must be given to…identifying with people… ‘considering’ them.
“There are several different kinds of ‘considering.’
“On…most…occasions, a man is identified with what others think about him, how they treat him, what attitude they show towards him…
“And he ‘considers’ not only separate persons, but society and historically constituted conditions. Everything that displeases such a man seems to…be unjust, illegal, wrong, and illogical. And… these things can and should be changed. ‘Injustice’ is one of the words in which very often considering hides itself. When a man has convinced himself that he is indignant with some injustice, then for him to stop considering would mean ‘reconciling himself to injustice’…
“…A man can take everything in such a personal way as though everything…had been specially arranged…to cause him inconvenience or unpleasantness.
“All this…is merely a form of identification. Such considering is wholly based upon ‘requirements.’ A man inwardly ‘requires’ that everyone should see…and… express… their respect… for him, for his intellect… cleverness… wit… presence of mind… originality, and all his other qualities. Requirements, in their turn, are based on…completely fantastic notion(s) about themselves… —In Search of the Miraculous, Chapter 8
Kenneth Walker
External considering is the precise opposite of inner considering, and it would be the correct antidote to inner considering, if we could only manage to produce it when required. But external considering is…as difficult to evoke in ourselves as is self-remembering. It demands an entirely different attitude and relationship to other people, namely, a preoccupation with their welfare instead of with our own…and to see what are his needs, External consideration demands…a great deal of…self-control, and…necessitates a state approaching self-remembering. No person who externally considers can ever talk to another person ‘for his good’, or ‘to put him right’, or ‘to explain to him his own point of view’, for external consideration makes no demands, and has no requirements other than those of the person addressed. It allows of no feeling of superiority on the part of the person who is externally considering, for what he is trying to do is to put himself into the other man’s place in order that he may be able to discover his needs. This necessitates the abandonment of the last shred of self-identification…in order that the other person…is viewed as objectively as possible. —A Study Of Gurdjieff’s Teaching, Kenneth Walker, Chapter IV, Knowledge and Being
G.I. Gurdjieff
“(F)or a man’s own successful work, ten times more external considering is necessary than in life, because only external considering on his part shows his valuation…and…understanding of the work; and success in the work is always proportional to the valuation and understanding of it… This is a very important principle which, for some reason or other, is very easily forgotten… —In Search of the Miraculous, Chapter 8
(R)egard everyone and everything as something by which to help oneself. There must be no considering with anything or with anyone… for the fool and the clever man, the cad and the decent man, can equally serve as a mirror and a shock for seeing, studying and using for work on oneself…
You must understand this clearly and behave accordingly, and try to make use of other people in all their aspects, good and bad… All people are the same, only they manifest themselves differently at different times, just as you (do). Just as you need help at different times, so others need your help, but you must help others not for their sakes, but for your own… —Views From the Real World, Prieuré, August 21, 1923
(L)earn to play a role outwardly, and at the same time, inwardly never consider. Both things at the same time. You will never be able to play a role unless you guard against inner considering… —Paris Meetings, 1943, Thursday, July 8