Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- “Laelius De Amicitia [Laelius on Friendship],” ch....
If a man should ascend alone into heaven and behold clearly the structure of the universe and the beauty of the stars, there would be no pleasure for him in the awe-inspiring sight, which would have...
View ArticleMartial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 2, epigram 38 [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]
You ask me how my farm can pay, Since little it will bear; It pays me thus — ‘Tis far away And you are never there. [Quid mini reddat ager quaeris, Line, Nomentanus? Hoc mini reddit ager: te, Line, non...
View ArticleChabon, MIchael -- “The Loser’s Club,” Manhood for Amateurs (2000)
Every work of art is one half of a secret handshake, a challenge that seeks the password, a heliograph flashed from a tower window, an act of hopeless optimism in the service of bottomless longing....
View ArticleSarton, May -- Journal of a Solitude (1973)
There is no doubt that solitude is a challenge and to maintain balance within it a precarious business. But I must not forget that, for me, being with people or even with one beloved person for any...
View ArticleSarton, May -- “Gestalt at Sixty,” sec. 1 (1972)
I can tell you that solitude Is not all exaltation, inner space Where the soul breathes and work can be done. Solitude exposes the nerve, Raises up ghosts. The past, never at rest, flows through it....
View ArticleSarton, May -- Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing (1965)
Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self. May Sarton (1912-1995) Belgian-American poet, novelist, memoirist [pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton]Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids...
View ArticleBukowski, Charles -- sifting through the madness for the Word, the line, the...
Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you are alone. Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) German-American author, poetsifting through the madness for the Word, the line, the way, Part 2, epigram...
View ArticleBukowski, Charles -- Barfly (1987)
I don’t hate people, I just feel better when they aren’t around. Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) German-American author, poetBarfly (1987) From the movie screenplay by Bukowski. This is the way the phrase...
View ArticleTaylor, Barbara Brown -- An Altar in the World, ch. 7 (2009)
It can be difficult to be an introvert in church, especially if you happen to be the pastor. Liking to be alone can be interpreted as a judgment on other people’s company. Liking to be quiet can be...
View ArticleBukowski, Charles -- “Oh Yes,” You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes...
there are worse things than being alone but it often takes decades to realize this and most often when you do it’s too late and there’s nothing worse than too late. Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)...
View ArticleFrye, Northrop -- The Educated Imagination, Talk 1 “The Motive for Metaphor”...
One person by himself is not a complete human being. Northrop Frye (1912-1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theoristThe Educated Imagination, Talk 1 “The Motive for Metaphor” (1963)
View ArticleHolland, Barbara -- One’s Company: Reflections on Living Alone (1996)
No doubt about it, solitude is improved by being voluntary. Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American authorOne’s Company: Reflections on Living Alone (1996)
View ArticleDe Stael, Germaine -- Quoted in Margaret Goldsmith, Madame de Staël (1938)
A voyage without companionship, that is to say without conversation, is one of the saddest pleasures of life. Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) Swiss-French writer, woman of letters, critic, salonist [Anne...
View ArticleKrutch, Joseph Wood -- Baja California and the Geography of Hope,...
There are many people who want (or think they want) silence, solitude, and unspoiled nature just enough to push into and destroy all three. They will push as far as, but no farther than, good roads...
View ArticleByron, George Gordon, Lord -- “The Giaour,” ll. 969-970 (1813)
Better to sink beneath the shock Than moulder piecemeal on the rock! George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet“The Giaour,” ll. 969-970 (1813)
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