Welch ein kleiner Gedanke doch ein ganzes Leben füllen kann! Wie man doch sein ganzes Leben lang dasselbe kleine Ländchen bereisen kann, und meinen, es gäbe nichts außer ihm! Man sieht alles in einer merkwürdigen Perspektive (oder Projektion): das Land, was man unaufhörlich bereist, kommt einem ungeheuer groß vor; alle umgebenden Länder sieht man wie schmale Randgebiete. Um in die Tiefe zu steigen, braucht man nicht weit reisen; ja, Du brauchst dazu nicht Deine nächste und gewöhnliche Umgebung verlassen.
How small a thought it takes to fill someone’s whole life! Just as a man can spend his life travelling around the same little country and think there is nothing outside it! You see everything in a queer perspective (or projection): the country that you keep travelling round strikes you as enormously big; the surrounding countries all look like narrow border regions. If you want to go down deep you do not need to travel far; indeed, you don’t have to leave your most immediate and familiar surroundings.
Culture and value
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Translated by Peter Winch
The University of Chicago Press, 1980
Another translation of the same paragraphs:
"How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life! Just as someone may travel around the same little country throughout his whole life, and think there is nothing outside it! You see everything in a queer perspective (or projection): the country that you ceaselessly keep covering, strikes you as enormously big; the surrounding countries seem to you like narrow border regions. To go down into the depths you don't need to travel far; you can do it in your own back garden."