The world is indeed a dangerous place, and obviously there are times when the worst we fear does happen. Yet what did being sick with dread ever do to protect us? Fear neither causes the thing feared to happen nor prevents it. It is mere static. It is an absence of music. It is not power. There is calmness at the center of us, a very deep well of happiness that cannot be exhausted, but it will never be experienced while our perceptions are twisted by doubt and fear.
— Hugh Prather, How To Live in the World and Still Be Happy