`` all my life , '' he said , `` i have been strangely , vividly conscious of another region -- not far removed from our own world in one sense , yet wholly different in kind -- where great things go on unceasingly , where immense and terrible personalities hurry by , intent on vast purposes compared to which earthly affairs , the rise and fall of nations , the destinies of empires , the fate of armies and continents , are all as dust in the balance ; vast purposes , i mean , that deal directly with the soul , and not indirectly with more expressions of the soul -- '' `` i suggest just now -- '' i began , seeking to stop him , feeling as though i was face to face with a madman .