Outside world Quote by Alexander Gordon Smith
““When every link to the outside world is severed, time has no meaning. It ceases to exist other than as a dull memory, a vague recollection of what a minute used to be, an hour, a day. Sealed up tight so far beneath the ground, every single second was stretched out almost to infinity—each one a vast and empty abyss where time used to reign, an ageless aeon barren of significance and consequence. When every scrap of light and sound has been taken away, reality has no meaning. It too ceases to exist, for what is reality other than the cumulation of senses—images witnessed by our own eyes and the noises that enter through our ears? But when all those senses are starved, then the real world fades away like the last frantic gasp of a television program when the set is switched off. And when reality goes, sanity has no reason. How can your ability to behave in a normal and rational way still exist when nothing normal or rational remains? As soon as reality breaks, as soon as we are separated from the physical world, the cracks begin to appear in our minds. And through them seeps the madness that has always been there, flowing into your skull like a liquid nightmare.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Darkest Minds by Alexander Gordon Smith, 2012
Isolation strips away external cues, making time and reality feel meaningless, leading to mental instability.
In simple terms: Without external input, time and reality lose meaning, causing madness.
Recognize the need for sensory engagement to maintain sanity.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- solitary confinement
- long-duration spaceflight
- deep meditation retreats
- psychological experiments
- extreme sensory loss
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you maintain mental stability when external stimuli vanish?
- What internal anchors can replace lost senses?
Even in isolation, internal mental frameworks can preserve a sense of time and reality.