She may never have realised though how much she had in common with other writers. What effect would it have had on her if she had put her life into the context of the lives of certain other people?
What further effect would it have had if she had seen exactly where she stood in relation to the entire human race?
Having one’s ideas and viewpoint expanded is not always beneficial; it can be devastating.
She said this in her travel book Worlds Within Worlds:
“The world would come to an end if each one of us suddenly began to see himself as one of a crowd—and that a funny crowd...We all intend to be seen as Ones, not as crowds; all our details of personality are evolved to clothe us as Ones, not as crowds.“
It may seem that Stella Benson was exaggerating when she said that the world would come to an end if people realised their personal insignificance, but she is not alone. Douglas Adams, author of the comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so in a sense a fellow travel writer, dealt with this Issue in a way that is both amusing and alarming.
