Alone!--That worn-out word,
So idly spoken, and so coldly heard;
Yet all that poets sing, and grief read more

Alone!--That worn-out word,
So idly spoken, and so coldly heard;
Yet all that poets sing, and grief hath known,
Of hope laid waste, knells in that word--Alone!

I praise the Frenchman; his remark was shrewd,--
"How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude."
But grant read more

I praise the Frenchman; his remark was shrewd,--
"How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude."
But grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper--Solitude is sweet.

That he was never less at leisure than when at leisure: nor that
he was ever less alone than read more

That he was never less at leisure than when at leisure: nor that
he was ever less alone than when alone.
[Lat., Nunquam se minus otiosum esse quam cum otiosus; nec minus
solum quam cum solus esset.]

This is to be along; this, this is solitude!

This is to be along; this, this is solitude!

I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of read more

I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other

Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.

Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.

Thrice happy he, who by some shady grove,
Far from the clamorous world; doth live his own;
read more

Thrice happy he, who by some shady grove,
Far from the clamorous world; doth live his own;
Though solitary, who is not alone,
But doth converse with that eternal love.

I am afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you read more

I am afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it--and that's all I got.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.