Reaper Man (Discworld, #11; Death, #2)

by Terry Pratchett

Windle shook his head sadly. Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind.

Death stood alone, watching the wheat dance in the wind. Of course, it was only a metaphor. People were more than corn. They whirled through tiny crowded lives, driven literally by clock work, filling their days from edge to edge with the sheer effort of living. And all lives were exactly the same length. Even the very long and very short ones. From the point of view of eternity, anyway.