# Quote — Kōbō Abe, The Woman in the Dunes

> The barrenness of sand, as it is usually pictured, was not caused by simple dryness, but apparently was due to the ceaseless movement that made it inhospitable to all living things. What a difference compared with the dreary way human beings clung together year in year out.

- Author: [Kōbō Abe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kobo-abe.md)
- Book: [The Woman in the Dunes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kobo-abe/the-woman-in-the-dunes.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/K%C5%8Db%C5%8D_Abe#The_Woman_in_the_Dunes_(1962)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/kobo-abe/the-woman-in-the-dunes/the-barrenness-of-sand

## More from this book

> More than iron doors, more than walls, it is the tiny peephole that really makes the prisoner feel locked in.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kobo-abe/the-woman-in-the-dunes/more-than-iron.md)

> Suddenly a sorrow the color of dawn welled up in him. They might as well lick each other's wounds. But they would lick forever, and the wounds would never heal, and in the end their tongues would be worn away.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kobo-abe/the-woman-in-the-dunes/suddenly-a-sorrow.md)

> When a castaway collapses from hunger and thirst it is fear of physical want rather than a real want, they say. Defeat begins with the fear that one has lost.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kobo-abe/the-woman-in-the-dunes/when-a-castaway.md)