万径人踪灭

From 柳宗元 《江雪》 (Liu Zongyuan, Tang, c. 810s, written during exile in Yongzhou): 千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。孤舟蓑笠翁，独钓寒江雪 (a thousand mountains — all birds vanished; ten thousand paths — all human tracks gone; a single boat, a straw-cloaked, bamboo-hatted old man, alone fishing the cold river snow). A twenty-character masterpiece, often read as Liu's self-portrait in political isolation.

Inseparable from 千山鸟飞绝 — the two lines form a strict parallel couplet. The first character of each of the poem's four lines reads 千万孤独 ('absolutely alone'), possibly intentional. Quote whenever describing eerie emptiness.