LETTER FROM GURDJIEFF TO HIS DAUGHTER
NEVER CONTRADICT, BE SILENT...
"If you do not approve of what the other says, do not raise controversies or insist on being right at all costs; remain silent. This silence is not an act of submission as the mind leads you to believe, but rather an Act of Royalty. Why do you want to force the other to think like you? Perhaps because you yourself do not truly believe in what you say and seek confirmation 'from the outside’, or perhaps because you cannot tolerate being contradicted?
You see... some important things are always ignored when we do not agree with what another says... the first is the fact that we do not know how the other 'sees' reality and even less do we know at what evolutionary level they are. The second is that we often overlook that what we fight for today will change tomorrow, along with our opinion.
Everyone sees their own reality and it is 'real' for them just as ours is for us... hence the reason for Silence. Not so much because if we stay silent we admit we are wrong, but rather because it is foolish to want others to give us 'right'. True Knowing comes from the Heart and the Heart does not need others’ approval."