Quotes about feeling

Philosophy Quotes About Loneliness

Solitude can be chosen for thought; loneliness names unwanted isolation. These passages distinguish independence from abandonment, and ask what community the examined life still requires.

13 quotations on loneliness

  1. All else belongs to others; time alone is ours.
  2. Solitude is the lot of all outstanding minds.
  3. Mencius said: In obscurity, cultivate yourself alone; when successful, bring goodness to all under Heaven.
  4. Those who in ancient or modern times achieved great enterprises and profound learning must pass through three realms: first, standing alone atop a high tower after the west wind withers the green trees, gazing to the end of the road at heaven's edge; second, the belt growing looser without regret, wasting away for the beloved; third, searching a thousand times in the crowd, then suddenly turning — and finding that person standing where the lanterns grow sparse.
  5. You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits.
  6. All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
  7. The noble person is cautious about what is not seen, apprehensive about what is not heard…therefore watchful when alone.
  8. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law.
  9. One should lift oneself by the Self and not degrade oneself; for the Self alone is friend and enemy of the self.
  10. The Great Way has no gate; there are a thousand paths. Once you pass this checkpoint, you walk alone between heaven and earth.
  11. We are not born for ourselves alone.
  12. All of humanity’s misfortune comes from one thing: not knowing how to remain quietly in a room.
  13. All things are alien to us; time alone is ours.