As humans, the need for social connection runs through our veins. We all hold that desire to be accepted, loved and simply seen. It’s this innate craving that makes the concept of solitude a difficult one to embrace. And, we’re not just addressing the extroverts in the room. Even the most introverted introverts can sometimes struggle when faced with a great deal of seclusion.
But, solitude isn’t a negative or scary state of being. In fact, it can be quite the opposite—and provide many advantages—if you only change your perspective.
Although it’s a common misconception, solitude is not a synonym for loneliness. Rather, it is the act of being alone accompanied only by yourself. This space can be full of magic if you let it. It is a time for introspection, relaxation and to be who you really are with no fear of judgement. Solitude can even help to improve your critical thinking skills, creativity and self-awareness, as well as reduce stress.
Learning to love your time alone and to make the most out of it can take some inspiration and dedication. So, we’re providing you with a list of solitude quotes that will help you approach periods of isolation with confidence and perhaps even excitement.
Powerful Solitude Quotes to Embrace Being Alone
When you’re alone, the world is your oyster. There’s no one to tell you what to do or to interrupt your thinking patterns—a scary but also liberating thought. These first few positive solitude quotes can help us to start restructuring the way we view solitude. It’s an avenue to become reacquainted with yourself and to re-establish who you are and who you want to be. With this mindset, you can truly begin to appreciate your time alone.
- “Be so fulfilled with yourself, that even when you are alone, you feel in good company.” —Irini Zoica
- “If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.” —Paulo Coelho
- “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.” —May Sarton
- “Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren’t a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was.” —Cheryl Strayed
- “I restore myself when I’m alone. A career is born in public — talent in privacy.” —Marilyn Monroe
- “Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person’s body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings.” —Elizabeth Gilbert
- “Our language has wisely sensed these two sides of man’s 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
- “The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude.” —Gabriel García Márquez
Related Link: 75 Joy Quotes That Will Brighten Your Day And Lift Your Spirit
Comforting Quotes to Overcome Feeling Alone
If you’ve ever felt alone, you’re not alone. Isn’t it comforting to know that this feeling of separation is something that actually connects us all? We all inevitably fall into that withdrawn bubble at some point or another. But, there’s no shortage of ways to combat any negative feelings that solitude may spur on. The following “feeling alone” quotes highlight just a few including activities like getting lost in books or music.
- “Being alone is not the same as being lonely. I like to do things that glorify being alone. I buy a candle that smells pretty, turn down the lights and make a playlist of low-key songs. If you don’t act like you’ve been hit by the plague when you’re alone on a Friday night, and just see it as a chance to have fun by yourself, it’s not a bad day.” —Taylor Swift
- “A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.” —Mandy Hale
- “From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.” —Betty Smith
- “Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feelings of isolation.” —Albert Einstein
- “Seek to be alone much to commune with Nature and be thus inspired by her mighty whisperings within your consciousness. Nature is a most jealous god, for she will not whisper her inspiring revelations to you unless you are absolutely alone with her.” —Walter Russell
- “Although she continued to knit, and sat upright, it was thus that she felt herself; and this self having shed its attachments was free for the strangest adventures. When life sank down for a moment, the range of experience seemed limitless.” —Virginia Woolf
- “Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows and to improve their conditions of life.” —Albert Einstein
Related Link: 75 Uplifting Mental Health Quotes to Comfort You When You’re Struggling
Inspirational Quotes On The Power Of Solitude
Solitude is a powerful tool at your disposal. It shows a great deal of strength to be independent and capable of spending uninterrupted time in your own head. But, it can also breed amazing results. In the following “being alone” inspirational quotes, brilliant celebrities and historians share what solitude means to them and how it’s impacted their lives.
- “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “I’m actually really interested in living more of a life of solitude. It’s really nice to just have time to be alone, and be expansive and know that you’re enough. I wish I could tell my younger self that.” —Lady Gaga
- “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.” —Charlotte Brontë
- “Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” —Bell Hooks
- “The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.” —William P. Douglas
- “Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth.” —Kahlil Gibran
- “Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its complement.” —Paulo Coelho
Related Link: 100 Inner Peace Quotes to Be Your Guide Through Difficult Situations
Thoughtful Quotes On Being Happy Alone
Not only is it possible to feel completely content and at ease alone, but you can even feel at your happiest during these times. The following “happy being alone” quotes remind us that we can use solitude to do all the things that bring us joy, even if that’s just mentally resetting. It’s a privilege to just be with yourself. We can settle in and appreciate these moments of silence and tranquility.
- “Knowing how to belong to yourself is an art in a world where everyone is finding their home in others.” —Renuka Gavrani
- “I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” —Audrey Hepburn
- “Closed in a room, my imagination becomes the universe, and the rest of the world is missing out.” —Criss Jami
- “I’m not alone! I’m with myself. And myself is fabulous.” —Eva Longoria
- “Solitude is the soul’s holiday, an opportunity to stop doing for others and to surprise and delight ourselves instead.” —Katrina Kenison
- “Live alone in your mind — that is happiness. To have nobody to care for and never minding who cares for one is the way to be free.” —Swami Vivekananda
Positive Sayings On Walking Alone
Sometimes in life, you may choose a path of solitude on purpose. You must be the captain of your own ship, and at times, that will mean that you can’t just follow the crowd. Staying true to your own values and making independent choices may lead to isolation, but it means you have integrity and personal strength. When situations like these arise, use these quotes for standing alone to build your courage.
- “There is a magic in walking alone, in thinking alone: If there is no one to contact you around, the universe starts contacting you!” —Mehmet Murat ildan
- “I have a good life, I remind myself. There are plenty of people who love me. They’re just not around at the moment.” —Cynthia Hand
- “There is no support so strong as the strength that enables one to stand alone.” —Ellen Glasgow
- “I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone.” —Bobcat Goldthwait
- “You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.” —Jim Rohn
- “Why does no one tell us how important it is to enjoy being single and being by yourself? That time is defining and amazing and nothing to ‘sure’. It is being alone that will actually set you up the best for being with someone else.” —Drew Barrymore
Introspective Phrases On Solitude & Self-Reflection
When was the last time you truly allowed yourself to sit with your thoughts and feel your emotions? Solitude puts things in perspective for us, at times de-escalating our feelings and quieting a busy mind. But, it also makes room for introspection. We can check in with ourselves, increasing our self-awareness without foreign noise. This practice is key for personal growth and these sayings will help to inspire your reflection.
- “I think alone time is good to know how to be alone with your own thoughts. I think it just helps you kind of be a better, more grounded person.” —Carrie Brownstein
- “The greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own.” —Michel de Montaigne
- “Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony.” —Douglass Coupland
- “Alone time is when I distance myself from the voices of the world so I can hear my own.” —Oprah Winfrey
- “If isolation tempers the strong, it is the stumbling-block of the uncertain.” —Paul Cez
