Childhood is that state which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle instead of an opportunity.
– Michael K. Williams
Imagine
a puddle waking up one morning
and thinking,
‘This is an interesting world
I find myself in
— an interesting hole
I find myself in —
fits me rather neatly,
doesn’t it?
In fact it fits me
staggeringly well,
must have been made to have me in it!’
This is such a powerful idea
as the sun rises in the sky
and the air heats up
and as, gradually,
the puddle
gets smaller
and smaller,
frantically hanging on
to the notion
everything’s going to be alright,
because this world
was meant
to have him in it,
was built
to have him in it;
so the moment
he disappears
catches him
rather by surprise.
I think
this may be something
we need
to be
on the watch out for.
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt