Herta Müller Quote

You go out for a walk and the world opens up for you. And before you've even stretched your legs properly, it closes shut. For here to there it's all just the farty sputter of lantern. And they call that having lived. It's not worth the bother of putting on your shoes.

Michael Hulse and Philip Boehm translation, Picador 2002, p. 80 - The Appointment (1997)