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Solitude Quotes
"Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self."
52
"The only exercise that Tess took at this time was after dark; and it was then, when out in the woods, that she seemed least solitary... She had no fear of the shadows; her sole idea seemed to be to shun mankind-or rather that cold accretion called the world, which, so terrible in the mass, is so unformidable, even pitiable, in its units."
45
"True solidarity is only possible among the solitary."
42
"I have stood still and stopped the sound of feetWhen far away an interrupted cryCame over houses from another street,But not to call me back or say good-bye;And further still at an unearthly height,A luminary clock against the skyProclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.I have been one acquainted with the night."
41
"Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone...let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape yourself, for God has singled you out."
41
"This sometimes happened: from time to time, DantA s, driven out of solitude into the world, felt an imperative need for solitude. And what solitude is more vast and more poetic than that of a ship sailing alone on the sea, in the darkness of night and the silence of infinity, under the eye of the Lord?"
38
"Like dry ground welcoming the rain, he let the solitude, silence, and loneliness soak in."
37
"There is a fellowship more quiet even than solitude, and which, rightly understood, is solitude made perfect."
36
"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with."
36
"Of course, these were only dreams. How could a sensible woman leave a happy marriage? All the same, a seductive voice from afar kept breaking into her conjugal peace: it was the voice of solitude."
35
"Solitude cherishes great virtues and destroys little ones."
34
"I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."
34
"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree."
33
"I have been one acquainted with the night.I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.I have outwalked the furthest city light.I have looked down the saddest city lane.I have passed by the watchman on his beatAnd dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain."
33
"People who live in society have learnt how to see themselves, in mirrors, as they appear to their friends. I have no friends: is that why my flesh is so naked?"
33
"I was thinking, too, of Superman and his fortress of solitude."
32
"O solitude, where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place."
32
"All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone."
31
"The solitary speaks."One receives as a reward for much ennui , ill-humour and boredom, such as a solitude without friends, books, duties or passions must entail, one harvests those quarters of an hour of the deepest immersion in oneself and nature. He who completely entrenches himself against boredom also entrenches himself against himself: he will never get to drink the most potent refreshing draught from the deepest well of his own being."
31
"Reading - the best state yet to keep absolute loneliness at bay."
31
"During the luncheon he paid attention to no one except his own phantoms."
30
"Living alone, with no one to consult or talk to, one might easily become melodramatic, and imagine things which had no foundation on fact."
30
"It had filled my time - given me quiet, steadfast company with those characters, who did not exist and never would, but somehow made me feel less ... alone."
30
"To be exempt from the Passions with which others are tormented, is the only pleasing Solitude."
29
"I have rooted myself into this quiet place where I don't need much to get by. I need my visions. I need my books. I need new thoughts and lessons, from older souls, bars, whisky, libraries; different ones in different towns. I need my music. I need my songs. I need the safety of somewhere to rest my head at night, when my eyes get heavy. And I need space. Lots of space. To run, and sing, and change around in any way I please-outer or inner-and I need to love. I need the space to love ideas and thoughts; creations and people-anywhere I can find-and I need the peace of mind to understand it."
29
"I am alone on this road strewn with bones and bordered by ruins! Angels have their brothers, and demons have their infernal companions. Yet I have but the sound of my scythe when it harvests, my whistling arrows, my galloping horse. Always the sound of the same wave eating away at the world."
29
"Is there a place you can go to break away for a little while? If you haven't yet built your tree house, it's never too late to start."
29
"I'm never less at leisure than when at leisure, or less alone than when alone."
28
"A man who is afraid of being alone has never truly met himself."
28
"Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it, except sitting in a corner by myself with a little book."
27
"It's not your enemies who condemn you to solitude, it's your friends."
27
"When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of me."
26
"One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody's listening."
26
"It is a frightful satire and an epigram on the modern age that the only use it knows for solitude is to make it a punishment, a jail sentence."
26
"The world and the friends that lived in it are shadows: you alone remain real in this drowsing room."
26
"The man I meet with is not often so instructive as the silence he breaks."
25
"Being alone is much better than being around negative people out of loneliness or desperation."
24
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