Don't Expect Anything

“Selfishness can be very, very subtle. If I expect you to appreciate me, I will have anxiety. When I answer your questions, I will try to answer very nicely so that you will appreciate me. That very expectation will bring anxiety. I have lost my peace, and, if you don’t appreciate me at the end, I lose still more of my peace. I go away an unhappy man. It will be a double loss: loss of time and loss of happiness. But if I speak to you without any expectation, whether you appreciate me or not, at least I don’t lose my peace. So for the sake of my own peace, I should not expect anything from you. I’m so selfish in keeping my peace that I don’t want to expect anything from you.