Visible and Invisible (1923) by E. F. Benson

Belated notes after the publication centenary

Readers unfamiliar with Visible and Invisible may prefer to read these notes only after reading the collection.

Time is a sort of tunnel through which we are accustomed to believe that we are traveling. There’s a roar in our ears and a darkness in our eyes which makes it seem real to us. But before we came into the tunnel we existed for ever in an infinite sunlight, and after we have got through it we shall exist in an infinite sunlight again. So why should we bother ourselves about the confusion and noise and darkness which only encompass us for a moment?”

“In the Tube” (1922)