Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness. The man who needs a mob to nerve him is much more alone than he imagines.

Isolation is aloneness that feels forced upon you, like a punishment. Solitude is aloneness you choose and embrace. I think great things can come out of solitude, out of going to a place where all is quiet except the beating of your heart.

Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up.

Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement.

It is often said that a man's personal religion grows out of the uses to which he puts his moments of solitude. A sure mark of an irreligious person is one who hates to ever be alone, who must be constantly amused by radio, television, canasta or idle companionship. Such shows the lack of self-discipline and self-determination.

There is a blurred distinction between loneliness and solitude. Loneliness can be a terrible thing, but solitude is what we're on the earth for. Ultimately, we are born alone and we are alone in our inner consciences in our life and we need to be comfortable with that. The craving for stimulation and the flight from solitude is an escape from what should be a healthy, adjusted life.

Loneliness is conquered only by those who understand the benefits of solitude, the most important of which is quiet reflection. The examined life, the active soul: these alone are of lasting importance in a world of transience and triviality.