Life & Wisdom Quote by Idries Shah

Shah is doing something sly here: he turns the warm glow of generosity into a test of agency. "If you give what can be taken" sounds like a compliment at first, then lands as an accusation. If what you call a gift is just something people could have extracted anyway - your time under pressure, your money out of guilt, your agreement because you're cornered - then you're not practicing generosity. You're practicing compliance, or bargaining, or reputation management. The line is less moral advice than a diagnostic for self-deception.

The second move is even sharper: "Take what you are given, not what you want to be given". It's a rebuke of the spiritual consumer mindset, the way we treat life (and other people) like a curated feed: deliver the version that flatters my story. Shah pushes the reader toward consent and reality-testing. Accept what's actually offered; don't retrofit the world into a transaction where you silently invoice others for your expectations.

"Give what cannot be taken" is the Sufi twist: the real gift isn't the stuff that can be seized, demanded, or weaponized. It's attention freely offered, knowledge shared without strings, presence without performance, a kindness that can't be extorted because it depends on inner willingness. Context matters: Shah wrote as a popularizer of Sufi teaching for Western audiences, and this reads like a koan aimed at ego. It's not asking you to be nicer; it's asking you to notice when "giving" is just another way of trying to control outcomes.