Caroline Knapp Quotes

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

Creating is a lonely thing in a lot of ways.

The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid; the state of being alone.

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

I just always wanted to be left alone to go into a creative space.

I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original.

I'm not writing non-fiction. I don't feel anything about me as a kid was unique. Except that I had more interest in being alone and using my imagination.

I've got no problem being on my own. I like the way my imagination works.

Loneliness is a prerequisite for freedom. Freedom depends on the ability to reflect, and reflection can only begin when one is alone.

There is some liberation in the freedom of being totally alone and really going for it.

The greater the spirit, the more one is alone.

Solitude is the one place where we can gain freedom from the forces of society that will otherwise relentlessly mold us. Solitude requires relentless perseverance.

It is only when a man is alone that he is really free.

Nothing can be done without solitude. I've created my own solitude which nobody suspects

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.

I was in school - I was a good learner; if I wanted to get something done, I could get it done. I was lazy, though. I was always, like, sort of an outcast. And when I got home, I was always doing music, but when I was doing music, no one was there to judge it, you know? It was just me in my bedroom. It gave me freedom and made me happy.

It is well to be alone. It fertilizes the creative impulse.

My imagination is a monastery and I am its monk.

Artists walk alone.

I was an only child until I was 14, and there were no other kids around the area really. So I spent a lot of time on my own in the fields or by the lake, with just my imagination for company. I suppose I never wanted to let that part of me go.

To leave in search of yourself, of your real needs, is easier when you don't have to justify yourself to anyone, when there are not too many people bestowing you their attention.

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.

Everyone needs solitude, especially a person who is used to thinking about what she experiences. Solitude is very important in my work as a mode of inspiration, but isolation is not good in this respect. I am not writing poetry about isolation.

I got in touch with the creative process between the age of 14 and 16, mainly because I was alone so much.

The one happiness is to shut one's door upon a little room, with a table before one, and to create; to create life in that isolation from life.