I felt as if I was the only person awake in a city of sleepwalkers. That's an illusion, of course. When you walk through a crowd of strangers it's next door to impossible not to imagine that they're all waxworks, but probably they're thinking just the same about you.

Summary

The quote highlights a sense of isolation and detachment from others. The speaker perceives themselves as the only one truly aware and alive in a world of people going about their lives in a mechanical and unconscious manner. Yet, they acknowledge the likelihood of this perception being an illusion. We often assume that others are disengaged or uninterested in their surroundings, but this quote reminds us that everyone has their own thoughts and experiences. It suggests that we are all simultaneously observers and observed in the bustling crowds of life.

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