Wait and How

"What! He is now going to teach me!"
— Why not? There is nobody from whom you cannot learn. Before God, who speaks through all men, you are always in the bottom class of nursery school.
— Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings (Diary 1925-1961), 1955, p. 104.

On the field where Ormuzd has challenged Ahriman to battle, he who chases away the dogs is wasting his time.
— Ibid., 1956, p. 128.

Tired
And lonely,
So tired
The heart aches.
The fingers are numb
The knees tremble.
It is now,
Now, that you must not give in.

On the path of others
Are resting places,
Places in the sun
Where they can meet
But this
Is your path,
And it is now,
Now that you must not fail.

Weep
If you can,
Weep,
But do not complain.
The way chose you —
And you must be thankful.
— Ibid., 1961, p. 213.

The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, not because he wills to be quiet.
— The Way of Chuang Tzu, Thomas Merton, from "Action and Non-action," p. 80.

If a person keeps failing to solve his problems, those within himself, and those between him and society, he loses faith in being able to meet new ones sucessfully. The challenge of repeated choices as to which of many unsuitable jobs to select, which of several imperfect party platforms to support, which of many tempting but often not too essential gadgets to buy, confronts the modern citizen with his own lack of decision. Rarely do these choices really satisfy his deeper needs. Therefore, the psychic energy spent in reaching a decision is wasted and the individual feels drained of energy without purpose.
— Bruno Bettelheim, The Informed Heart, p. 80.