Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone. - read more

Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone. - The Labyrinth of Solitude, 1950.

He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything. - read more

He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything. - The Art of Worldly Wisdom, 1647.

Only in solitude do we find ourselves; and in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers in solitude. read more

Only in solitude do we find ourselves; and in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers in solitude. - Essays and Soliloquies, 1924.

The heart may think it knows better: the senses know that absence blots people out. We really have no absent read more

The heart may think it knows better: the senses know that absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends. The friend becomes a traitor by breaking, however unwillingly or sadly, out of our own zone: a hard judgment is passed on him, for all the pleas of the heart.

I want to be left alone.

I want to be left alone.

One can acquire everything in solitude except character. - On Love, 1822.

One can acquire everything in solitude except character. - On Love, 1822.

Separation penetrates the disappearing person like a pigment and steeps him in gentle radiance.

Separation penetrates the disappearing person like a pigment and steeps him in gentle radiance.

Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.

Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.

We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.