Understanding Loneliness through Quotes

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

The duality of being alone is perfectly captured in this quote by May Sarton. When we purposely remove ourselves from society for personal reflection, our mental health improves. When we find ourselves feeling alone every day, it brings an unwelcome emotion and a state of desolateness.

When you start to feel this way, remember you are not alone in your loneliness. Find a minute to read and relate to what loneliness is to people from around the world.

We’re born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.

• “Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.”
• “Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.”
• “Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that’s where you renew your springs that never dry up.” —Pearl Buck
• “Loneliness is not lack of company, loneliness is lack of purpose.” – Guillermo Maldonado
• “Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony.” ― Douglas Coupland
• “There’s nothing abnormal about loneliness.” –Paula Stokes
• “The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care.” Hugh MacLeod
• There is nothing outside of yourself, look within. Everything you want is there – you are that. – Rumi
• No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. – Buddha
• Sometimes it is necessary to be lonely in order to prove that you are right. – Vladimir Putin
• I came alone in this world, I have walked alone in the valley of the shadow of death, and I shall quit alone when the time comes. – Mahatma Gandhi
• The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself. – Mark Twain

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Historical Loneliness

Loneliness as a concept has been finding new meaning over the years. In the early 16th century, loneliness was used to describe people who were physically away from their villages, towns or communities. The isolated roads, deserts, mountains, and forests would lead to acute suffering in the traveler but this was easily cured when they returned to their social home and back to the warmth of their village. History and literature often depict loneliness as a feeling of emptiness when we leave familiar grounds. And It talks of the joy of returning home that removes all the pain.

Sometimes life is too hard to be alone and sometimes life is too good to be alone.

Modern-day Loneliness

Today, the world is so deeply connected that it gives us eyes and ears into even the most remote parts of the world. We watch the royal wedding, friends eating crab cakes in Bali, FaceTime with cousins in Australia – all in the palm of our hands.

Our fingers type “so happy for you” and our mind says “I feel left out”.

It appears that increasing connections online leaves us with vacant relationships offline. So now the emptiness has infiltrated our homes and social spaces. It is a byproduct of our social construct and it is therefore hard to run from. It is ever-present in our lives and shadows our movements as we have our morning coffee, ride the subway, drink beer with friends or sit down for a meal with our family.

Treasure Quotes website lists many such relatable quotes on loneliness.

There are worse things than feeling alone. Things like being with someone and still feeling alone.

• “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone, it’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people that make you feel all alone.”
• “Sometimes you have to stand alone. Just to make sure you still can.”
• “You smile, but you wanna cry. You talk, but you wanna be quiet. You pretend like you’re happy, but you aren’t.”
• “Sometimes, you just need a break. In a beautiful place. Alone. To figure everything out.”
• “Lonely hours is the best time of life because it’s the only time I share my deepest secrets with the most trusted person in the world, MYSELF.”
• “The worst thing about loneliness is that it brings one face to face with oneself.”― Mary Balogh
• “Solitude is the beginning of all freedom.”– William Orville Douglas
• “Loneliness becomes an acid that eats away at you.” – Haruki Murakami
• The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which makes you lonely. – Lorraine Hansberry

Why is loneliness so rampant?

Nearly 50% of Americans always or sometimes feel lonely and in the UK, 25% suffer from loneliness. We often refer to this as the “Loneliness Epidemic” because it is so widespread across countries. Especially in the west, cultural and economic changes have brought focus on to the individual and the serving of self-interest. The growth of the consumer economy, diminishing religious influence and understanding of evolutionary biology have to lead our society to emphasize the importance of the individual over society. This new notion takes us on a long, lonely and competitive journey that has a deeply negative impact on our personal and mental wellbeing/ infrastructure.

Combating loneliness is a larger socio-economic problem that requires effective government policies, promotion of the right environment and also a positive movement from society to address loneliness head-on and remove the stigma associated with it.

Today, we fight for the health of the planet. When will we fight for the health of our minds?