#solitude

I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail leading into the unknown to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bread by cities... it is enough that I am surrounded by beauty. ↗

— Everett Ruess

#nature #solitude #beauty

The devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds. He will not allow quietness. ↗

— Elisabeth Elliot

#quiet #solitude #business

Way far back in the beginning of the world was the whirlwind warning that we could all be blown away like chips and cry- Men with tired eyes realize it now, and wait to deform and decay- with maybe they have the power of love yet in their hearts just the same, I just don't know what that word means anymore- All I want is an ice cream cone ↗

— Jack Kerouac

#death #ennui #solitude #death

Divide the constant tide and random noisiness of energetic flow, with conscious recurring moments of empty mind, solitude, gratitude and deep...slow...breathing. Of this, the natural law of self-preservation demands. ↗

— T.F. Hodge

#breathing #conscious #deep #divide #division

Part of me remained forever at Latitude 80 degrees 08 minutes South: what survived of my youth, my vanity, perhaps, and certainly my skepticism. On the other hand, I did take away something that I had not fully possessed before: appreciation of the sheer beauty and miracle of being alive, and a humble set of values. All this happened four years ago. Civilization has not altered my ideas. I live more simply now, and with more peace. ↗

— Admiral Richard E. Byrd

#peace #solitude #beauty

Loneliness becomes a lover, solitude a darling sin. ↗

— Ian Fleming

#james-bond #loneliness #solitude #the-spy-who-loved-me #love

Can I be blamed for wanting a real body, to put my arms around? Without it I too am disembodied. I can listen to my own heartbeat against the bedsprings...but there’s something dead about it, something deserted. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#arms #body #dead #desire #fantasy

solitude is not absence of love, but its complement ↗

— Paulo Coelho

#love

There is no doubt that solitude is a challenge and to maintain balance within it a precarious business. But I must not forget that, for me, being with people or even with one beloved person for any length of time without solitude is even worse. I lose my center. I feel dispersed, scattered, in pieces. I must have time alone in which to mull over my encounter, and to extract its juice, its essence, to understand what has really happened to me as a consequence of it. ↗

— May Sarton

#lonely-loneliness #solitude #business

Violent passions are formed in solitude. In the busy world no object has time to make a deep impression. ↗

— Henry Home

#solitude #business