The Gurdjieff quotation being cited here is as follows: If a man could understand all the horror of the lives of ordinary people who are turning round in a circle of insignificant interests and insignificant aims, if he could understand what they are losing, he would understand that there can only be one thing that is serious for him – to escape from the general law, to be free. What can be serious for a man in prison who is condemned to death? Only one thing: How to save himself, how to escape. Nothing else is serious. -G.I. Gurdjieff
This refers to Beelzebub’s discussion of art in Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
