If we knew what to pray for, every prayer would be answered. But we don’t. And they aren’t. Knowing that we don’t know is love’s first humiliation. It doesn’t mean we stop praying. It just means that henceforth we pray silently, without any words.
Man is pure when desireless, simple when fearless.
Do I need what I want? No. What I need, I already have. Getting what I want requires the expenditure of effort. What is acquired through effort will require more effort to protect and maintain. That is what all effort leads to—more effort.
We cannot plan or prepare for the present moment. We enter it naked.
Fear and the future hold hands, finish each other’s sentences, cannot really be distinguished, and use the mind as an unregulated playground. To illustrate: Notice the breath. What are you afraid of in this moment, in the verticality of right now?
Men's Work 