The Third Policeman

by Flann O'Brien

It was very thin and slight like the very finest of spider’s muslin. You would not see it at all if you held it against the sky but at certain angles of the light you might at times accidentally notice the edge of it.

As you know, most good things in life are associated with certain disadvantages.’

Blank anonymity coming suddenly in the middle of life should be at best alarming, a sharp symptom that the mind is in decay.