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.

I was court-martial in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me read more

I was court-martial in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.

How glorious it is -- and also how painful -- to be an exception.

How glorious it is -- and also how painful -- to be an exception.

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character. - Among My Books, 1870.

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character. - Among My Books, 1870.

Sometimes I need what only you can provide, your absence.

Sometimes I need what only you can provide, your absence.

The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing.

The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing.

Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars read more

Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me anymore.

No matter how close to yours another's steps have grown, in the end there is one dance you'll do alone.

No matter how close to yours another's steps have grown, in the end there is one dance you'll do alone.

Regrets are idle; yet history is one long regret. Everything might have turned out so differently. - My Summer in read more

Regrets are idle; yet history is one long regret. Everything might have turned out so differently. - My Summer in a Garden.