--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That was the trouble. The land is too big…" description: "\"“That was the trouble. The land is too big out there, and after a while it starts to swallow you up. I reached a point when I couldn't take it anymore...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/paul-auster-351_emptiness_that-was-the-trouble-the-land-is-too-big_2481770.jpg" --- # That was the trouble. The land is too big out there, and… ![“That was the trouble. The land is too big out there, and after a while it starts to swallow you up. I reached a point when I couldn't take it anymore. All that bloody silence and emptiness. You try to find your bearings in it, but it's too big, the dimensions are too monstrous, and eventually, I…” quote by Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/paul-auster-351_emptiness_that-was-the-trouble-the-land-is-too-big_2481770.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/paul-auster-351_emptiness_that-was-the-trouble-the-land-is-too-big_2481770.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/paul-auster-351_emptiness_that-was-the-trouble-the-land-is-too-big_2481770.jpg) > ““That was the trouble. The land is too big out there, and after a while it starts to swallow you up. I reached a point when I couldn't take it anymore. All that bloody silence and emptiness. You try to find your bearings in it, but it's too big, the dimensions are too monstrous, and eventually, I don't know how else to put it, eventually it just stops being there. There's no world, no land, no nothing. It comes down to that, Fogg, in the end it's all a figment. The only place you exist is in your head.”” [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels overwhelmed by the vast, empty world, realizing reality may be a mental construct. **In simple terms:** The world feels huge and empty, perhaps only in our mind. Key Takeaway Accept mental limits and seek meaning within. Themes existential loneliness perception reality mind Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel - creative writing - philosophical reflection - personal crisis Key Concepts subjectivity nihilism mental health Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with feelings of emptiness? - Can perception shape reality? A Different Perspective The description may dramatize internal struggle, not objective truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Try](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-try-871404/) [Land Big](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land-big-724143/) [Land Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land-comes-871403/) [Silence Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-emptiness-624670/) ## Related quotes > [“All this working land was turned into exuberance by the light. The sunshine was dizzy on open stubble; shadows from immense cumulus clouds were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/all-this-working-land-was-turned-into-exuberance-by-the-light-the/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Objective art is just the opposite. The man has nothing to throw, he is utterly empty, absolutely clean. Out of this silence, out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/objective-art-is-just-the-opposite-the-man-has-nothing-to-throw-he-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I began to think that if you're a stutterer, it's about inhabiting silence, emptiness, and nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-began-to-think-that-if-you-re-a-stutterer-it-s-about-inhabiting/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [And the peace which I always found in the silence and emptiness of the moors filled me utterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-herriot/and-the-peace-which-i-always-found-in-the-silence-and-emptiness-of/) [James Herriot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-herriot/) > [As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/as-for-me-the-silence-and-the-emptiness-is-so-great-that-i-look-and/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [“From what land comes the monster? Where does it call home? Does it live in a single mind, or with the masses roam? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-b-coulson/from-what-land-comes-the-monster-where-does-it-call-home-does-it-live/) [D.B. Coulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-b-coulson/) > [“What an amazing thing is the coming of spring to London. The very pavements seem ready to crack and lift under the denied earth;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-v-morton/what-an-amazing-thing-is-the-coming-of-spring-to-london-the-very/) [H. V. Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-v-morton/) > [There's just something obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/there-s-just-something-obvious-about-emptiness-even-when-you-try-to/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [Fidgeting and boredom are the symptoms of fear of emptiness, which we try to fill up with whatever we can lay our hands on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/fidgeting-and-boredom-are-the-symptoms-of-fear-of-emptiness-which-we/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [“There’s something just obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/there-s-something-just-obvious-about-emptiness-even-when-you-try-to/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [Theres something just obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/theres-something-just-obvious-about-emptiness-even-when-you-try-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All silence is. All emptiness. And now: The dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/all-silence-is-all-emptiness-and-now-the-dawn/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy, because you then would have reasons to be sad. When you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-used-to-believe-that-with-age-you-would-become-less-unhappy-2/) [Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [In the end, all that were remained silence and emptiness cause what it lost can never be regained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/disgaea/in-the-end-all-that-were-remained-silence-and-emptiness-cause-what-it/) [Disgaea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/disgaea/) > [“There are all kinds of silences and each of them means a different thing. There is the silence that comes with morning in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-all-kinds-of-silences-and-each-of-them-means-a-different-3/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) ## More by Paul Auster > [“On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/on-his-best-walks-he-was-able-to-feel-that-he-was-nowhere-and-this/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-see-the-interesting-thing-about-books-as-opposed-say-to-films-is/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I'm not a man deeply interested in technology. It eludes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-man-deeply-interested-in-technology-it-eludes-me/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“What people saw when he appeared before them, then, was not really him, but a person he had invented, an artificial creature he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-people-saw-when-he-appeared-before-them-then-was-not-really-him/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/as-long-as-there-s-one-person-to-believe-it-there-s-no-story-that-can/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-has-always-had-a-tactile-quality-for-me-it-s-a-physical/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The ideal reader's the same, and I suppose this person has never had a face or a gender or an age. It's just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-ideal-reader-s-the-same-and-i-suppose-this-person-has-never-had-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Most lives vanish. A person dies, and little by little all traces of that life disappear. An inventor survives in his inventions, an architect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/most-lives-vanish-a-person-dies-and-little-by-little-all-traces-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“and cut down many trees. When the Humans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/and-cut-down-many-trees-when-the-humans/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) [Explore all 582 Paul Auster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That was the trouble. The land is too big out there, and after a while it starts to swallow you up. I reached a point when I couldn't take it anymore. All that bloody silence and emptiness. You try to find your bearings in it, but it's too big, the dimensions are too monstrous, and eventually, I don't know how else to put it, eventually it just stops being there. There's no world, no land, no nothing. It comes down to that, Fogg, in the end it's all a figment. 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