180 Solitude Quotes

Here are 180 of the best solitude quotes I could find. And the goal is simple: to make you realize that there’s power in solitude. Enjoy!

Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong. Winston Churchill

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy? Albert Einstein

Sometimes the solitary voice can be the best one. Frank Miller

Without great solitude, no serious work is possible. Pablo Picasso

It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. Rumi

One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

By all means use sometimes to be alone. Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear. George Herbert

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul. Marcus Aurelius

I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. Henry David Thoreau

The best thinking has been done in solitude. Thomas A. Edison

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. Voltaire

Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self. May Sarton

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude. Arthur Schopenhauer

Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living. Albert Einstein

Solitude helps you find peace. Peace helps you find happiness. Maxime Lagacé

Related quotes and topics: introvert, loneliness, simplicity

The Best Solitude Quotes

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All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone. Blaise Pascal

A little while alone in your room will prove more valuable than anything else that could ever be given you. Rumi

Solitude, in these days as much as ever, is an absolute necessity. Leo Babauta

I lived in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in maturity. Albert Einstein

In stillness lives wisdom. In quiet you’ll find peace. In solitude you’ll remember yourself. Robin Sharma

Once you know how to take care of yourself, company becomes an option. Keenu Reeves

Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You are born alone. You die alone. The value of the space in between is trust and love. Louise Bourgeois

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius. Edward Gibbon

I am never less alone than when alone. Cicero Click to tweet

I was a man who thrived on solitude; without it I was like another man without food or water. Each day without solitude weakened me. I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it. The darkness of the room was like sunlight to me. Charles Bukowski

Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone. Paul Tillich

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. Buddha Click to tweet

Solitude is un-American. Erica Jong

A well-ordered mind is at home with solitude. @TheStoicEmperor

Not being comfortable alone means you must spend more time alone. Maxime Lagacé

A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live. Bertrand Russell

I myself am best when least in company. William Shakespeare Click to tweet

The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude. Aldous Huxley

In proportion as a person simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude. Henry David Thoreau

The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. Nikola Tesla Click to tweet

The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Ralph Waldo Emerson

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. Franz Kakfa

In the temple of his spirit, each man is alone. Ayn Rand

More related quotes:  mental health

What Is Solitude?

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Solitude is the place of purification. Martin Buber Click to tweet

Solitude is where one discovers one is not alone. Marty Rubin

Solitude is a lost art in these days of ultra-connectedness. Leo Babauta

Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life. Paulo Coelho

Solitude is like punctuation. A paragraph without periods and commas would be exhausting to read. Arnie Kozak

Solitude isn’t loneliness. Solitude is when the entire serene universe seems to surround and hold you quietly. Victoria Erickson

Solitude is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. Deepak Chopra

Solitude is the attribute of the strong. The weak is always found in the crowd. Unknown

Part 2. Solitude Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Solitude Quotes

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Searching for a famous solitude quote? Check out those by Einstein, Gandhi, Shakespeare, Mother Teresa, etc.

Loneliness is to be avoided, solitude is to be sought. Tom Hanks

Society is no comfort, to one not sociable. William Shakespeare

It’s an interesting combination: Having a great fear of being alone, and having a desperate need for solitude and the solitary experience. That’s always been a tug of war for me. Jodie Foster

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou

We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. Henry David Thoreau (Solitude, Walden)

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. Henry David Thoreau

I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls. Henry David Thoreau

That is why I go into solitude so as not to drink out of everybody’s cistern. When I am among the many I live as the many do, and I do not think as I really think; after a time it always seems as though they want to banish me from myself and rob me of my soul and I grow angry with everybody and fear everybody. Friedrich Nietzsche

My solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company. Friedrich Nietzsche

It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone. Mahatma Gandhi

My passionate interest in social justice and social responsibility has always stood in curious contrast to a marked lack of desire for direct association with men and women. Albert Einstein

Solitude is dangerous. It’s very addictive. It becomes a habit after you realise how peaceful and calm it is. It’s like you don’t want to deal with people anymore because they drain your energy. Jim Carrey

Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Ernest Hemingway

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Aristotle Click to tweet

Wherever you may seek solitude, men will ferret you out and compel you to belong to their desperate company of oddfellows. Henry David Thoreau

It would do the world good if every person would compel himself to often be alone. Most of the world’s progress has come from such. Deepak Chopra

I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely and the noble-minded, as from time to time they pass my gate. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. Mother Teresa

This great misfortune – to be incapable of solitude. Jean de la Bruyère

Short Solitude Quotes

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One-liners, short solitude quotes, thoughts and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, backgrounds.

Solitude is a kind of freedom. Umberto Eco Click to tweet

He who understands humanity seeks solitude. Ali ibn Abi Talib

Fire is a good companion for the mind. May Sarton

Be alone and be happy with yourself. Leo Babauta (See also: the lost art of solitude, zenhabits.net)

Solitude terrifies the soul at twenty. Molière

Solitude appeared to me as the only fit state of man. Walter Benjamin

I’m not anti-social. I’m pro-solitude. Unknown

It is better to be alone than in bad company. Unknown

Solitude sometimes is best society. John Milton

In solitude I find my answers. Kristen Butler Click to tweet

Some of us are born to a solitary life. Philippa Gregory

Solitude vivifies; isolation kills. Joseph Roux

The more you enjoy solitude, the simpler life becomes. Maxime Lagacé

In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself. Laurence Sterne

Religion is what an individual does with his solitariness. Alfred North Whitehead

I owe my solitude to other people. Alan Watts

To find yourself, think for yourself. Socrates

The thoughtful soul to solitude retires. Omar Khayyam

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. Lorraine Hansberry

You only grow when you are alone. Paul Newman

Disappear. Then, come back even better. Ree Johnson

Inspirational Solitude Quotes

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They who do not fear darkness have learned to light their own candle. Dodinsky Click to tweet

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. Maya Angelou

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful. Sigmund Freud

Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Nikola Tesla

Make the time to be alone. Your best ideas live within solitude. Robin Sharma

There’s staggering power in leaving the world and heading out into some solitude for at least and hour every day. Robin Sharma

He is greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own. Henry Ward Beecher

Closed in a room, my imagination becomes the universe, and the rest of the world is missing out. Criss Jami

We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being. Hermann Hesse

Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life. Ralph Waldo Emerson

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own. Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is much better to walk alone, in the right direction, than to follow the herd, walking in the wrong direction. Lone Wolf Quotes

Let others worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine. Robert Greene

True solitude is found in the wild places, where one is without human obligation. One’s inner voices become audible… In consequence, one responds more clearly to other lives. Wendell Berry

Be so relaxed that nothing and nobody can affect you. You’re above that. Maxime Lagacé

You think that I am impoverishing myself withdrawing from men, but in my solitude I have woven for myself a silken web or chrysalis, and, nymph-like, shall ere long burst forth a more perfect creature, fitted for a higher society. Henry David Thoreau

We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be. May Sarton Click to tweet

You will not find a soulmate in the quiet of your room. You must go to a noisy place and look in the quiet corners. Robert Brault

Solitude is the place of purification and transformation, the place of the great struggle and the great encounter. Henri Nouwen

We live in a very tense society. We are pulled apart… and we all need to learn how to pull ourselves together… I think that at least part of the answer lies in solitude. Helen Hayes

Talent is nurtured in solitude… A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

In the solitude of your dreams grows the flame that will bring the light to this world. Unknown

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself. Michel de Montaigne

Sometimes, the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest of moments. Stephen Crane

Want more inspiring quotes? Please check out: Positive Quotes That Will Make Your Day Wonderful

See also: Einstein’s most effective life hack wasn’t about productivity (qz.com)

Funny Solitude Quotes

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The beaten path is the safest, but the traffic’s terrible. Jeff Taylor Click to tweet

Solitude is the soul’s holiday. Katrina Kenison

A bore is someone who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company. Oscar Wilde

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. Henry David Thoreau

A writer takes earnest measures to secure his solitude and then finds endless ways to squander it. Don DeLillo

I know what men want. Men want to be really, really close to someone who will leave them alone. Elayne Boosler

I’ve never been lonely. I like myself. I’m the best form of entertainment I have. Charles Bukowski

Leave me alone, I’m trying to build! Don’t you know how people build? By concentrating! 5 years old building Lego (Twitter source)

When they are alone they want to be with others, and when they are with others they want to be alone. After all, human beings are like that. Gertrude Stein

You don’t need to be a monk to find solitude, nor do you need to be a hermit to enjoy it. Leo Babauta

I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone. Rainer Maria Rilke

Deep Solitude Sayings

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In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion. Albert Camus Click to tweet

Life is an island in an ocean of solitude and seclusion. Kahlil Gibran (Check out the rest of this profound quote here, goodreads.com)

Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine. Honore de Balzac

People who grow bored in their own company seem to me in danger. Andrei Tarkovsky

It is the barren silence of winter that makes the birdsong and blossoms of spring so enchanting. @TheStoicEmperor

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be? Charles Bukowski

You need the rain to appreciate the sun, darkness to appreciate light, people to appreciate solitude. Maxime Lagacé

They simply never understand, do they, that sometimes solitude is one of the most beautiful things on earth? Charles Bukowski

Spend some time alone. There’s so much you don’t know about yourself. Thibaut

Although the wish for solitude can be a denial of dependence, a capacity for solitude may be its fullest acknowledgment. Adam Phillips

Our perpetually networked selves cling to constant communication in an effort to avoid the deep-seated sense of loneliness we so dread. Maria Popova

The man who is isolated, who is unable to share in the benefits of political association, or has no need to share because he is already self-sufficient, is no part of the polis, and must therefore be either a beast or a god. Aristotle

We think we are unique, special and deserving of happiness, but we are terrified of being alone. Sara Maitland

One of the best gifts we can give ourselves is time alone with God. Joyce Meyer

If you can’t stand solitude, maybe you bore others too. Unknown

Men fear silence as they fear solitude, because both give them a glimpse of the terror of life’s nothingness. Andre Maurois

We are all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life. Tennessee Williams

Man loves company even if it is only that of a small burning candle. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Don’t fear solitude: If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself. But don’t get too attached to it – it may become an addiction. Paulo Coelho

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others & the world remains and is immortal. Albert Pike

When we cannot bear to be alone, it means we do not properly value the only companion we will have from birth to death — ourselves. Eda LeShan

Give solitude a chance. You’ve got nothing to lose. And your life to gain back. Joshua Becker

This task is yours and yours alone. Naval Ravikant Click to tweet

I don’t mind being alone. I just don’t want to be part of the crowd. Naval Ravikant

To have passed through life and never experienced solitude is to have never known oneself. To have never known oneself is to have never known anyone. Joseph Krutch

If truth is what you seek, then the examined life will only take you on a long ride to the limits of solitude and leave you by the side of the road with your truth and nothing else. Thomas Ligotti

Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them. Jodi Picoult

I can tell you that solitude Is not all exaltation, inner space where the soul breathes and work can be done. Solitude exposes the nerve, Raises up ghosts. The past, never at rest, flows through it. May Sarton

If the blissful connection of a counterpart is the apex of all human emotion, why am I so happy so stand alone and feel the breeze? Unknown

Solitude was my only consolation – deep, dark, deathlike solitude. Mary Shelley

A high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial. Arthur Schopenhauer

Want more deep quotes? Please check out Deep Quotes That Will Make You Think (In New Ways)

See also: How Solitude Can Change Your Brain In Profound Ways (fastcompany.com)

Wise Solitude Sayings

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Solitude shows us what should be; society shows us what we are. Robert Cecil Click to tweet

Solitude is a good place to visit but a poor play to stay. Josh Billings

The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude. Gabriel García Márquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude)

The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd. Epicurus

I thought loving solitude was bad until I discovered a whole new world in it. Maxime Lagacé

On being alone: I think it’s a good thing to do; you get to know yourself, and I think that’s the most important thing in the whole world. Robert Paul Smith

As a society moves from scarcity to abundance, the cultural value that is most likely to be underdeveloped is restraint. Michael

Aloneness is obviously not isolation, and it is not uniqueness. To be unique is merely to be exceptional in some way, whereas to be completely alone demands extraordinary sensitivity, intelligence, understanding. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe. Lao Tzu

Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The value of solitude – one of its values – is, of course, that there is nothing to cushion against attacks from within, just as there is nothing to help balance at times of particular stress or depression. May Sarton

I’ve often been with someone and wished I was alone. I’ve never been alone and wished I was not. Derek Sivers

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration. Pearl S. Buck

To make the right choices in life, you have to get in touch with your soul. To do to this, you need to experience solitude, which most people are afraid of, because in the silence you hear the truth and know the solutions. Deepak Chopra

We visit others as a matter of social obligation. How long has it been since we have visited with ourselves? Morris Adler

Solitude is different from loneliness, and it doesn’t have to be a lonely kind of thing. Fred Rogers Click to tweet

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free. Arthur Schopenhauer

Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another. Octavio Paz

Man is nostalgia and a search for communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another, that is, of his solitude. Octavio Paz

We need society, and we need solitude also, as we need summer and winter, day and night, exercise and rest. Philip Gilbert Hamerton

No person can achieve significance alone. John C. Maxwell

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Mel Robbins

In solitude one finds only what he carries there with him. Juan Ramon Jimenez

More words of wisdom

See also: Seeking Solitude: 17 Ways to Find Time for Yourself (pickthebrain.com)

Part 3. Poems About Solitude

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Poem #1
Alone one is never lonely: the spirit adventures, waking
In a quiet garden, in a cool house, abiding single there;
The spirit adventures in sleep, the sweet thirst-slaking
When only the moon’s reflection touches the wild hair.
May Sarton

Poem #2
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
Lord Byron Click to tweet

Part 4. An Artist’s relation to solitude

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An artist must make time for the long periods of solitude
Solitude is extremely important
Away from home,
Away from the studio,
Away from family,
Away from friends
An artist should stay for long periods of time at waterfalls
An artist should stay for long periods of time at exploding volcanoes
An artist should stay for long periods of time looking at fast-running rivers
An artist should stay for long periods of time looking at the horizon where the ocean and sky meet
An artist should stay for long periods of time looking at the stars in the night sky.
Marina Abramović

Part 5. Conclusion

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I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me. Hermann Hesse Click to tweet

Call to action: Read 15 Ways to Create an Hour a Day of Extra Time … for Solitude (zenhabits.net)

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