“All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own.”

“The awake share a common world, but the asleep turn aside into private worlds.”

“The waking have one world in common; sleepers have each a private world of his own.”

“Everyone is asleep. They've all been asleep for years. You seemed ... awake.' Alex is whispering now. He closes his eyes, opens them again.'I'm tired of sleeping.”

“Other men are unaware of what they do when they are awake just as they are forgetful of what they do when they are asleep.”

“I don't think the world is the way we like to think it is. I don't think it's one solid world, but many, thousands upon thousands of them--as many as there are people--because each person perceives the world in his or her own way; each lives in his or her own world. Sometimes they connect, for a moment, or more rarely, for a lifetime, but mostly we are alone, each living in our own world, suffering our small deaths.”