“A man breaking his journey between one place and another at a third place of no name, character, population or significance, sees a unicorn cross his path and disappear. That in itself is startling, but there are precedents for mystical encounters of various kinds, or to be less extreme, a choice of persuasions to put it down to fancy; until--"My God," says a second man, "I must be dreaming, I thought I saw a unicorn." At which point, a dimension is added that makes the experience as alarming as it will ever be. A third witness, you understand, adds no further dimension but only spreads it thinner, and a fourth thinner still, and the more witnesses there are the thinner it gets and the more reasonable it becomes until it is as thin as reality, the name we give to the common experience... "Look, look!" recites the crowd. "A horse with an arrow in its forehead! It must have been mistaken for a deer.”

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Originally said in English.

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About Tom Stoppard

British playwright and screenwriter of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, known for his intellectually rigorous, dialogue-driven plays that blend wit with philosophical depth. His works—like *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead* and *Arcadia*—explore memory, time, and human perception with sharp precision and layered storytelling.

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"A man breaking his journey between one place and another at a third p…" — Tom Stoppard | Daily Quotes