We often confuse what we wish for with what is.

We are often unable to tell people what they need to know because they want to know something else.

We always long for the forbidden things, and desire what is denied us

So often we fail to acknowledge what we have because we’re so concerned about what we want.

We suffer by wanting different things often at odds with one another, but we suffer even more by wanting to want different things.

We, ignorant of ourselves,
Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers
Deny us for our good; so find we profit
By losing of our prayers.

we know little of the things for which we pray

By default, we typically don't want to hear the truth.

We just want to hear confirmation of what we already believe is the truth.

The truth is hidden from us. Even if a mere piece of luck brings us straight to it, we shall have no grounded conviction of our success; there are so many similar objects, all claiming to be the real thing.

We have been so persistently taught that prayer consists in asking God for some human need that we have lost sight of our spiritual identity and have become a race of praying beggars.

Our desires are never wholly transparent, even to ourselves.

The more desire I have for something to work out a certain way, the less likely I am to see the truth.

We are ever striving after what is forbidden, and coveting what is denied us.

The more we want it to be true, the more careful we have to be. No witness's say-so is good enough. People make mistakes. People play practical jokes. People stretch the truth for money or attention or fame. People occasionally misunderstand what they're seeing. People sometimes even see things that aren't there.