Why are we ambitious? Why do we want to succeed, to be somebody? Why do we struggle to be superior? Why all this effort to assert oneself,
whether directly, or through an ideology or the State? Is not this
self-assertion the main cause of our conflict and confusion? Without ambition,
would we perish? Can we not physically survive without being ambitious?

Why are we clever and ambitious? Is not ambition an urge to avoid what
is? Is not this cleverness really stupid, which is what we are? Why are
we so frightened of what is? What is the good of running away if
whatever we are is always there? We may succeed in escaping, but what we are is still there, breeding conflict and misery. Why are we so frightened
of our loneliness, or our emptiness? Any activity away from what is is
bound to bring sorrow and antagonism. Conflict is the denial of what is
or the running away from what is; there is no conflict other than that.
Our conflict becomes more and more complex and insoluble because we do
not face what is. There is no complexity in what is, but only in the
many escapes that we seek.