on the subject of Sex

I must warn you that Gurdjieff is far more of an enigma than you can imagine. I am certain that he is deeply good, and that he is working for the good of mankind. But his methods are often incomprehensible. For example, he uses disgusting language, es- pecially to ladies who are likely to be squeamish about such things. He has the reputation of behaving shamelessly over money matters, and with women also. At his table, we have to drink spirits, often to the point of drunkenness. People have said that he is a magician, and that he uses his powers for his own ends.

Witness p. 244

Others were affronted by his behaviour. They could not reconcile themselves to the drinking at his table and his obscene language. Several were terribly distressed by what they heard in Paris about his private life, and especially his relations with women. They took literally his boasting about his many sons and daughters and his irresistible appeal for women.

Witness p.250

I was especially bewildered and even outraged by all that Gurdjieff said in public, and advised me in private, about the subject of sex. He spoke of women in terms that would have better suited a fanatical Muslim polygamist than a Christian: boasting that he had many children by different women, and that women were for him only means to an end. The general impression that Gurdjieff produced shocked those accustomed to regard the sex relation as sacred—even if their private behaviour might be anything but sacred. Gurdjieff always showed the worst outwards and kept the best hidden.

Witness p.258