Grasp the skirt of his favor, for on a sudden he, will flee: but draw him not, as an arrow, for he will flee from the bow. What delusive forms does he take, what tricks does he invent! If he is present in form, he will flee by the way of spirit seek him in the sky, he shines in water, like the moon. When you come into the water, he will flee to the sky! Seek him in the placeless, he will sign you to place: when you seek him in place, he will flee to the placeless. As the arrow speeds from the bow, like the bird of your imagination. Know that the absolute will certainly flee from the imaginary.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.