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.

A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company.

A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company.

To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy read more

To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than their own hearts in their closet. - Lacon, 1825.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Solitude is the playfield of Satan. - Pale Fire, 1962.

Solitude is the playfield of Satan. - Pale Fire, 1962.

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.