“For man seems to be unable to live without myth, without the belief that the routine and drudgery, the pain and fear of this life have some meaning and goal in the future. At once new myths come into being – political and economic myths with extravagant promises of the best of futures in the present world. These myths give the individual a certain sense of meaning by making him part of a vast social effort, in which he loses something of his own emptiness and loneliness. Yet the very violence of these political religions betrays the anxiety beneath them – for they are but men huddling together and shouting to give themselves courage in the dark.”

“A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world.”

“For we have never actually understood the revolutionary sense beneath them – the incredible truth that what religion calls the vision of God is found in giving up any belief in the idea of God.”

“The startling truth is that our best efforts for civil rights, internationalpeace, population control, conservation of natural resources, andassistance to the starving of the earth—urgent as they are—will destroyrather than help if made in the present spirit. For, as things stand, wehave nothing to give. If our own riches and our own way of life are notenjoyed here, they will not be enjoyed anywhere else. Certainly theywill supply the immediate jolt of energy and hope that methedrine, andsimilar drugs, give in extreme fatigue. But peace can be made only bythose who are peaceful, and love can be shown only by those who love.No work of love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart,just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have nocapacity for living now.”

“If, then, my awareness of the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.”

“What we see as death,empty space, or nothingness is only the trough between the crests of thisendlessly waving ocean. It is all part of the illusion that there shouldseem to be something to be gained in the future, and that there is anurgent necessity to go on and on until we get it. Yet just as there is notime but the present, and no one except the all-and-everything, there isnever anything to be gained—though the zest of the game is to pretendthat there is.”

“For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the future is a hoax.There is no point whatever in making plans for a future which you willnever be able to enjoy. When your plans mature, you will still be livingfor some other future beyond. You will never, never be able to sit backwith full contentment and say, "Now, I've arrived!" Your entireeducation has deprived you of this capacity because it was preparingyou for the future, instead of showing you how to be alive now.”