Wonders of Solitude Quotes

“There were many times in my life, until I was left alone, that I wished for solitude. I now find that I love solitude. I never had the blessed gift of being alone until the last of my loved ones was wrested from me. Now I can go sometimes for days and days without seeing anyone. I’m not entirely alone, because I listen to the radio and read the newspapers. I love to read. That is my greatest new luxury, having the time to read. And oh, the little things I find to do that make the days, as I say, much too short. Solitude — walking alone, doing things alone — is the most blessed thing in the world. The mind relaxes and thoughts begin to flow and I think that I am beginning to find myself a little bit. — HELEN HAYES AMERICAN ACTRESS”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“Nothing has changed the nature of man so much as the loss of silence. The invention of printing, technics, compulsory education— nothing has so altered man as this lack of relationship to silence, this fact that silence is no longer taken for granted, as something as natural as the sky above or the air we breathe. Man who has lost silence has not merely lost one human quality but his whole structure has been changed thereby. — MAX PICARD FRENCH PHILOSOPHER”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“Nothing could be worse, Thoreau wrote, than to come to the end of life and “discover that I had not lived.”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“In solitude, we may find a new beginning, an opportunity to break old habits. In solitude, we may find increased sensitivity, compassion, and empathy. In solitude, we may find the truth of ourselves, restore our dulled senses, and clarify and reorder our priorities. Above all, in solitude, we may find God, and come to hear that voice.”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. — RALPH WALDO EMERSON AMERICAN PASTOR, ESSAYIST”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“There should be at least a room or some corner where no one will find you and disturb you or notice you. You should be free to untether yourself from the world and set yourself free, loosing all the fine strings and strands of tension that bind you, by sight, by sound, by thought, to the pressure of other men. Once you have found a place, be content with it, and do not be disturbed if a good reason takes you out of it. Love it, and return to it as soon as you can. — THOMAS MERTON FRENCH-BORN TRAPPIST MONK”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“I got up at sunrise and was happy; I walked, and was happy; I roamed the forests and hills, I wandered in the valleys, I read, I did nothing, I worked in the garden, I picked the fruit, I helped in the house, and happiness followed me everywhere — happiness which could not be referred to any definite object, but dwelt entirely within myself and which never left me a single instant. — JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU SWISS-BORN ESSAYIST”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“At 11:00 a.m. the launch puts me ashore and I walk up on the ridge overlooking the sea. Even Nature in her harsher aspects in the tropics soothes and heals. I stand and loiter long on the breezy ridge and look north upon the great blue crescent of the sea. I have but one thought, and am glad to be alone with it on the hills. — JOHN BURROUGHS AMERICAN NATURALIST”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“But for the time being, around my place at least, the air is untroubled, and I become aware for the first time today of the immense silence in which I am lost. Not a silence so much as a great stillness — for there are a few sounds: the creak of some bird in a juniper tree, an eddy of wind which passes and fades like a sign, the ticking of the watch on my wrist — slight noises which break the sensation of absolute silence but at the same time exaggerate my sense of the surrounding, overwhelming peace. A suspension of time, a continuous present. If I look at the small device strapped to my wrist the numbers, even the sweeping second hand, seem meaningless, almost ridiculous. No travelers, no campers, no wanderers have come to this part of the desert today and for a few moments I feel and realize that I am very much alone.… I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again, and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation. — EDWARD ABBEY AMERICAN FOREST RANGER”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“There is a remarkable picture called Contemplation. It shows a forest in winter and on a roadway through the forest, in absolute solitude, stands a peasant in torn kaftan and bark shoes. He stands, as it were, lost in thought. Yet he is not thinking: he is “contemplating.” If anyone touched him he would start and look bewildered. In time he would come to himself immediately; but if he were asked what he had been thinking about, he would remember nothing. Yet probably he has hidden within himself, the impression which dominated him during the period of contemplation. Those impressions are dear to him and he probably hoards them imperceptibly, and even unconsciously. How and why, of course, he does not know. He may suddenly, after hoarding impressions for many years, abandon everything and go off to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. Or he may suddenly set fire to his native village. Or he may do both. — FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY RUSSIAN NOVELIST”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“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. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. — HENRY DAVID THOREAU AMERICAN NATURALIST”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“Why do you suppose those moments of solitude offer us such relief ? … Because they give us a chance to simply be ourselves, to enjoy what and where we are, to savor just being. Alone with God, we feel no need to perform, to do. — FRANK BIANCO AMERICAN JOURNALIST/PHOTOGRAPHER”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“If you wish to grow in your spiritual life, you must not allow yourself to be caught up in the workings of the world; you must find time alone, away from the noise and confusion, away from the allure of power and wealth. — THOMAS À KEMPIS AUGUSTINIAN MONK”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“It is not a bad exercise for a man to sit quiet once in a while and watch the workings of his mind and heart and notice how often he can find himself favoring five or six of the seven deadly sins, and especially the first of those sins, which is named pride. — CARL SANDBURG AMERICAN POET”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak. — SPINOZA DUTCH PHILOSOPHER”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“Very few of us ever walk in the fields and the woods, not talking or singing songs, but just walking quietly and observing things about us and within ourselves. — J. KRISHNAMURTI INDIAN PHILOSOPHER”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude

“Solitude is a place of stillness and joy that is found in the heart, and once found, becomes all-encompassing. It is a window from the soul that looks upon everything and sees unity. Because it resides in our heart, and not simply in circumstances, solitude need never be delayed until a more convenient time. We can, and probably should, schedule moments in which to practice solitude. But our lives inevitably conspire against us. Eventually, we learn to quickly find that place of quietness within us, regardless of the events swirling around us.”
― Dale Salwak, The Wonders of Solitude