B1203 <=> B1205 (BTG XLVIII From the Author, p. 1204)

In the presences of average people what they call will is exclusively only the resultant of desires.

Real will is a sign of a very high degree of Being in comparison with the Being of the ordinary man. But only those people who possess such Being can do.

All other people are simply automatons, machines, or mechanical toys set in motion by external forces, acting just in so far as the “spring” placed in them by surrounding accidental conditions acts, and this spring can neither be lengthened or shortened, nor changed in any way on its own initiative.

And so, while admitting great possibilities in man, we deny him any value as an independent unit as long as he remains such as he is at the present time.

For the purpose of confirming the complete absence in the average man of any will whatsoever, I will add here a passage from another of Mr. Gurdjieff’s personal lectures, in which the manifestations of this famous assumed will in man are picturesquely described.

Addressing those present, Mr. Gurdjieff then said:

“You have plenty of money, luxurious conditions of existence, and universal esteem and respect. At the head of your well-established concerns are people absolutely reliable and devoted to you; in a word, your life is a bed of roses.

“You dispose of your time as you please, you are a patron of the arts, you settle world questions over a cup of coffee, and you are even interested in the development of the latent spiritual forces of man. You are not unfamiliar with the needs of the spirit, and are well versed in philosophical matters. You are well educated and widely read. Having a great deal of learning on all kinds of questions, you are reputed to be a clever man, being at home in a variety of fields. You are a model of culture.

“All who know you regard you as a man of great will, and most of them even attribute all your advantages to the results of the manifestations of this will of yours.