“It's 3:35am in the morning. I am standing in an open doorway, peering into a dark wood, wearing only a pair of thermal long johns. Snow is drifting onto my face from a moonlit sky. My heart is pounding. And I am holding an axe. Was it a falling tree branch that caused the noise that woke me? Or is t…”— Sam Parker, esquire.com
“And yet at the very same time, like most men, I am drawn to the idea of solitude. Why wouldn't I be? The story of man on his own – unlimited by society, discovering greater truths about life and nature – can be found everywhere. It's in the founding religious texts and the epic poems of the ancient…”— Sam Parker, esquire.com
“We began as disparate tribes, scattered across a giant and unfathomable earth, unaware each other even existed. We settled and built communities. We explored, and merged civilisations. As the population grew, we invented new ways to communicate with each other — always quicker and from greater dista…”— Sam Parker, esquire.com
“In our hyper-connected world, a world in which we can communicate constantly and instantly over the internet, we rarely remember to carve out spaces for solitary contemplation.”— Jennifer Stitt, aeon.co
“If we lose our capacity for solitude, our ability to be alone with ourselves, then we lose our very ability to think.”— Jennifer Stitt, aeon.co
“He was confounded by the idea that passing the prime of your life in a cubicle, spending hours a day at a computer, in exchange for money, was considered acceptable, but relaxing in a tent in the woods was disturbed. Observing the trees was indolent; cutting them down was enterprising. What did Knig…”— Michael Finkel, amazon.com
“I understand I've made an unusual lifestyle choice. But the label 'crazy' bothers me. Annoys me. Because it prevents response. When someone asks if you're crazy, Knight lamented, you can either say yes, which makes you crazy, or you can say no, which makes you sound defensive, as if you fear that yo…”— Michael Finkel, amazon.com
“Be alone, and you will feel that it is better to be with people. Be with people, and you will understand that being alone is not so bad.”— Yoko Ono, twitter.com
“Spiritual evolution demands solitude. As you grow you no longer relate to people in the same way & that's okay.”— Ebonee Davis, twitter.com
“Gospel: Today Jesus 'withdraws' with the disciples, to move away from the crowds. At other times Jesus 'withdraws' to pray by himself. All of us, even extroverts, need time for solitude and private prayer. You and I need to connect with God, who often speaks to us in silence.”— James Martin, SJ, twitter.com
“It feels good to be silent in the midst of gossip and at peace in the middle of a heated political debate. It's empowering to forgive myself quickly and move forward with ease. It feels great to be a presence of love in the world.”— Gabby Bernstein, amazon.com
“Meditation will bring to your awareness aspects of your self that go unnoticed because of the chatter and activity of the mind.”— Iyanla Vanzant, twitter.com
“Time spent in silence is time with your true Self. It is time spent to gain clarity and build confidence.”— Iyanla Vanzant, twitter.com
“Why does everything have to be 'us'? Is there no 'me' left? Why can't there be some things just for me? Is that so selfish?”— Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, George Costanza, Jason Alexander, imdb.com
“I sometimes wear headphones even though I’m not listening to anything just so I’m left alone. It’s the next best thing to wearing a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.”— Karl Pilkington, amazon.com
“..solitude is not to be recommended to everyone, for you have to be strong in order to bear it and act alone.”— Paul Gaugin, amazon.com
“I am leaving in order to have peace and quiet, to be rid of the influence of civilization. I want only to do simple, very simple art, and to be able to do that, I have to immerse myself in virgin nature, see no one but savages, live their life, with no other thought in mind but to render, the way a…”— Paul Gaugin, amazon.com
“There is only one solitude, and that is vast and not easy to bear and almost everyone has moments when they would happily exchange it for some form of company...”— Rainer Maria Rilke, amazon.com