Why am I fragmented? Don’t give explanations – we are beyond all that. You don’t explain to a hungry man that there is marvellous food next door – he wants it. If you are at all serious, you are in that state. I want to know why I live a fragmentary life. Basically, I am frightened. Physically, psychologically, in every way, we are frightened human beings. Out of fear, I have created the gods, the saviours, the gurus and all the rest of it. Out of fear and for security, I have created nationalities and territorial rights – which now prevent security. War is brought about by ideological security.
From Discussion with Young People 1, Brandeis University, 22 October 1968