It is possible to perform the same act for two very different reasons. One may withdraw from the world because he finds its situations unendurable and its goals unrealizable--in short, because he is a failure. If he then takes an escapist path, he has the right to do so. The retreat will certainly comfort him and may refresh his energies for a further and later attempt. But it still leaves his central problem unsolved. The deficiencies or weaknesses within himself which led to his defeat are still there. Another man may retire because he is well on the way to fulfilling ambitions and satisfying desires--in short, because he is a success. But he is not deceived by all this. He has taken a proper measure of earthly values, and found them wanting. Both men had the right to withdraw into a life of meditation. But the first one did so prematurely.
-- Notebooks Category 3: Relax and Retreat > Chapter 4 : Retreat Centres > # 67
