Original Final Words

Richard Matheson’s novel ‘The shrinking man’ was published in 1956 and soon adapted for film. In the film the famous last words are inspiring but quite different from the original final words in Matheson’s book. Supposedly the original text was adapted by director Jack Arnold. Therefor, not to lose any of its visionary potential, we hereby publish Matheson’s equally inspiring original last words.

“How could he be less than nothing? The idea came. Last night he’d looked up at the universe without. Then there must be a universe within, too. Maybe universes. He stood again. Why had he never thought it; of the microscopic and submicroscopic worlds? That they existed he had always known. Yet never had he made the obvious connection. He’d always thought in term of man’s own world and man’s own limited dimensions. He had presumed upon nature. For the inch was man’s concept, not nature’s. To a man zero inches meant nothing. Zero meant nothing. But to nature there was no zero. Existence went on in endless cycles. It seemed so simple now. He would never disappear, because there was no point of non-existence in the universe. It frightened him at first. The idea of going on endlessly through one level of dimension after another was alien. Then he thought: If nature existed on endless levels, so also might intelligence. he might not have to be alone. Suddenly he began running towards the light. And when he’d reached it, he stood in speechless awe looking at the new world with it’s vivid splashes of vegetation, its scintillant hills, it’s towering trees, it’s sky of shifting hues, as though the sunlight were being filtered through moving layers of pastel glass. It was a wonderland. There was much to be done and more to be thought about. His brain was teeming with questions and ideas and yes- hope again. There was food to be found, water, clothing, shelter. And most important, life. Who knew? It might be, it just might be there. Scott Carey ran into his new world, searching.”

When will we run into ours?