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'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.

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.