page seventy-seven

"frightened, i looked at these unstable beings which, in an hour, in a minute, were perhaps going to crumble: yes, i was there, living in the midst of these books filled with knowledge describing the immutable forms of the animal species, explaining that the right quantity of energy is kept integral in the universe; i was there, standing in front of a window whose panes had a definate refraction index. but what feeble barriers! i suppose it is out of laziness that the world is the same day after day. today it seemed to want to change. and then, anything, anything could happen."

nausea, jean-paul sartre. 1938.