The truest philosophy, is not to long for anything in particular, but to accept everything as it comes, and find out the reason of it coming. — Marie Corelli
Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827) Born with a passionate and excitable temperament, keenly susceptible to the pleasures of society, I was yet obliged early in life to isolate myself, and to pass my existence in solitude. If I at any time resolved to surmount all this, oh! how cruelly was …
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Nigella Lucy Lawson (January 06, 1960 -) No, I never used to like solitude much. I went a bit too inward. It must be an age thing—over the past three years, I have found I have grown not just to enjoy solitude but to need it. Like many things, once you get used to it, …
May Sarton (May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995) The value of solitude — one of its values — is, of course, that there is nothing to cushion against attacks from within, just as there is nothing to help balance at times of particular stress or depression. A few moments of desultory conversation … may …
Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone. The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape. And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves …
Octavio Paz (March 31, 1914–April 19, 1998) All of us, at some moment, have had a vision of our existence as something unique, untransferable and very precious. This revelation almost always takes place during adolescence. Self-discovery is above all the realization that we are alone: it is the opening of an impalpable, transparent wall — …
Madeleine Dore I came to embrace doing nothing and relish the moments of solitude. I went on meandering walks, sat at cafés without any technology, and found myself daydreaming more frequently as I was no longer attempting to fill every spare moment.
Sophia Loren (September 20, 1934 -) Extravagant though it may sound, solitude is the filter of my soul. It nourishes me, and rejuvenates me. Left alone, I discover that I keep myself good company.
Sara Maitland (February 27, 1950 -) Solitude seems to be more or less a necessity for creativity, for instance, whether it is drawing, painting, writing, learning an instrument, cooking or any other kind of creative activity. It is also very useful for anyone wanting to deepen their spirituality – this is why both Christians and …
Rainer Maria Rilke (December 04, 1875 – December 29, 1926) I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other. For, if it lies in the nature of indifference and of the crowd to recognize no solitude, then love and …
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Maria Popova (July 28, 1984 -) There is, of course, a universe of difference between solitude and loneliness — two radically different interior orientations toward the same exterior circumstance of lacking companionship. We speak of “fertile solitude” as a developmental achievement essential for our creative capacity, but loneliness is barren and destructive; it cottons in …
Tim Kreider (February 25, 1967 -) As with most artists, my fondest worldly goal is to be left alone: I dream of an empire the size of my apartment.
Andrei Tarkovsky (April 04, 1932 – December 29, 1986) I think I’d like to say only that they should learn to be alone and try to spend as much time as possible by themselves. I think one of the faults of young people today is that they try to come together around events that are …
Eugène Delacroix (April 26, 1798–August 13, 1863) Everything tells me that I need to live a more solitary life. The loveliest and most precious moments of my life are slipping away in amusements which, in truth, bring me nothing but boredom...I must work alone. I think that going into society from time to time, or …
Rollo Reese May (April 21, 1909 – October 22, 1994) In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.
Alice Koller Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement.
Hermann Hesse (July 02, 1877 – August 09, 1962) Solitude is the path over which destiny endeavors to lead man to himself. Solitude is the path that men most fear. A path fraught with terrors, where snakes and toads lie in wait… Without solitude there is no suffering, without solitude there is no heroism. But …
May Sarton (May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995) I am alone here for the first time in weeks to take up my “real” life again at last. That is what is strange — that friends, even passionate love, are not my real life, unless there is time alone to explore and to discover what …
Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) My passionate interest in social justice and social responsibility has always stood in curious contrast to a marked lack of desire for direct association with men and women. I am a horse for single harness, not cut out for tandem or teamwork. I have never …
Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (December 25 1911 – May 31, 2010) Solitude, a rest from responsibilities, and peace of mind, will do you more good than the atmosphere of the studio and the conversations which, generally speaking, are a waste of time. You are born alone. You die alone. The value of the space in between …
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) But alone in distant woods or fields, in unpretending sprout lands or pastures tracked by rabbits, even on a black and, to most, cheerless day, like this, when a villager would be thinking of his inn, I come to myself, I once more feel myself …
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (September 30, 1207 – December 17, 1273) What I want most is to spring out of this personality, then to sit apart from that leaping. I've lived too long where I can be reached...Look for someone else to mend the shop. I'm out of the image-making business. Only love. Only the …
Seamus Heaney (April 13, 1939 – August 30, 2013) The true and durable path into and through experience involves being true to your own solitude, true to your own secret knowledge.
Tao Writer (April 17, 1948 -) I do not have many friends because friendship requires a lot of time and for me, time is a premium commodity in rather short supply these days. I do not have the energy and time necessary to have and develop more new friendships. “To have a friend takes time,” …
If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation. —Jiddu Krishnamurti
When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses... We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. — John F. Kennedy
...If one looks long enough at almost anything, looks with absolute attention at a flower, a stone, the bark of a tree, grass, snow, a cloud, something like revelation takes place. — May Sarton
The most we can do is to write — intelligently, creatively, evocatively — about what it is like living in the world at this time. — Oliver Sacks
The truest philosophy, is not to long for anything in particular, but to accept everything as it comes, and find out the reason of it coming. — Marie Corelli
For The Love Of Wisdom 