“It’s a strange paradox. When something isn’t very important, it’s not so difficult to concentrate. When we’re watching television we don’t suffer particularly from an inability to concentrate and attend to what’s happening. If we’re reading a serious book, a biography, or a piece of historical writing, then the concentration is more difficult, but it’s not so hard. Prayer, which is the most important thing of all, then the concentration is hardest of all.”

(Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, comments on prayer)