Hence, absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power. There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets our norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself. To believe that is we could but have this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization that the cause of our unhappiness is in our inadequate and blemished selves.
Excessive desire is thus a means of suppressing our sense of worthlessness.
To spell out the obvious is often to call it into question. Unpredictability, too, can become monotonous. We can never have enough of that which we really do not want. We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. It needs inordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling.