Yevgeny Zamyatin — We [943]

As if you were blindfolded and forced to walk, feeling your way, stumbling, and knowing that somewhere—just nearby—is the edge; a single step, and all that will remain of you will be a flattened, mangled piece of flesh. — Yevgeny Zamyatin, We, 943

Note

The extended metaphor of the blindfolded walk to the edge captures the vertigo of intellectual and moral disorientation with visceral fear.