Jonathan Franzen Quotes

A great reader seldom recognizes his solitude.

I need, absolutely, to be alone.

The task of the solitary man is to be even more solitary.

I live alone, so I don't really talk to anyone once I'm home. I have some silent nights.

I remember being alone a lot as a child, and I still love to be alone.

Growing up in Georgia in the southeastern United States, I was always reading and always kept to myself. I never felt isolated, though; I just liked being alone.

Writing is a tribute to solitude. It is choosing introversion over extroversion, lonely hours/days/weeks/years over fun and sociability.

I kind of crave loneliness.

I like the idea of isolation. I like the reality of it. You realize what you are... not that the knowledge is inevitably rewarding.

We must relearn to be alone.

You live by yourself for a stretch of time and you get to staring at different objects. Sometimes you talk to yourself. You take meals in crowded joints. You develop an intimate relationship with your used Subaru. You slowly but surely become a has-been.

One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.

Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone and leave it alone.

Getting close to books, and spending time by myself, I was obliged to think about things I would never have thought about if I was busy romping around with a brother and sister.

The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.

I was never less alone than when by myself.

Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of 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.

You want to read a book? That requires introspection. It requires time away from people and time away from the constant need to communicate and to connect.

I happen to be pretty productive when I am in jail. When you are in jail, you have to spend more time with yourself.

I had friends but I was spending a great deal of my time alone and for me that was vital because there's an awful lot you learn about yourself when you're alone.

There's a difference between solitude and loneliness. I can understand the concept of being a monk for a while.

I spend an awful lot of time by myself and enjoy that.

I really do work in solitude.

Solitude vivifies; isolation kills.

There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall.