Struggling Against the Hell-Mouth of Negativity

Knowledge of this Work, such as that we are negative and must struggle to the end of our lives not to fall into the open hell-mouth of negative emotions—I say, knowledge of this Work is clearly one thing and life does not teach this special knowledge. But your being will not change as long as the knowledge of the Work lies simply in your memory.

This knowledge must be understood, before we can be what we know. For example, you can never remember yourself unless you understand, through self-observation, that you are asleep. To try to self-remember without understanding that you are asleep is useless.

Maurice Nicoll, “Knowledge and Being" in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 4, p. 1403)