Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness. The man who needs a mob to nerve him is much more alone than he imagines.

Radical individualism can be very sad.

Any man who is really a man must learn to be alone in the midst of others, to think alone for others, and, if necessary, against others.

To every man it is decreed: Thou shalt live alone. Happy they who imagine that they have escaped the common lot; happy, whilst they imagine it.

I have never belonged wholeheartedly to country or State, to my circle of friends or even to my own family... Such isolation is sometimes bitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and sympathy of other men. I lose something by it,to be sure, but I am compensated for it in being rendered independent of the customs, opinions and prejudices of others, and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations.

The height, the deity of man is to be self-sustained, to need no gift, no foreign force. Society is good when it does not violate me, but best when it is likest to solitude.

It's only when you're alone that you realize where you are. You have nothing to fall back on except your own resources.

I've always been a loner, and I've spent most of my life as a single person.

So it is necessary that we should learn to be alone.

I never felt isolated; I just liked being alone. I think that some people are good at being alone, and some people aren't, and as a child, I really liked it.

We are ultimately alone in that we are ultimately responsible for ourselves.

You must learn to exist with no religion, no country, no allies. You must learn to live alone in silence.

I don't belong to anyone.

I don't care about a social life.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

I got no entourage in real life. Solo. I go solo. No entourage.

I'm in the loners' society. I don't want to classify myself as anything.

The rare few, who, early in life have rid themselves of the friendship of the many.

Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne, / He travels the fastest who travels alone.

We behave as if being alone were a problem.

I've always been alone. I grew up alone. I like it that way. Even when I'm in an arena surrounded by 10,000 people, I'm alone in my head.

Yes, I do seek solitude, but I am never lonely.

Once you're alienated, you're on your own. That takes you to the world of the existential, where things just kind of float.

Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together. But the creator is the man who stands alone.

We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and -- in spite of True Romance magazines -- we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely -- at least, not all the time -- but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.