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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Absence does not make the heart grow fonder, but it sure heats up the blood.

Absence does not make the heart grow fonder, but it sure heats up the blood.

We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

I'm still the little southern girl from the wrong side of the tracks who really didn't feel like she belonged.

I'm still the little southern girl from the wrong side of the tracks who really didn't feel like she belonged.

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

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