Thomas de Quincey Quotes

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

All human beings are lonely at the core. We come alone, we go 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.

In what concerns you much, do not think that you have companions: know that you are alone in the world.

But there it is: Everyone is alone, for life, and maybe that's not such a bad thing.

What I was reading was already part of my psyche, but finally someone else was saying it's okay to walk alone.

To live alone is the fate of all great souls.

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.

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

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.

I guess I am basically most comfortable when I'm alone. As a kid, I was very much a loner. I love long distance running and long distance biking. A director once pointed out that those are all very isolated exercises you do for hours at a time.

My real guru are my experiences in life - the realisation that you are alone in this world came very early to me.

I really do work in solitude.

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

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.

I like to write about the solitary things people do. Humans seem to function best when they're alone.

For those who know the value of and exquisite taste of solitary freedom (for one is only free when alone), the act of leaving is the bravest and most beautiful of all.

In those days, I still thoroughly enjoyed the romance I called "by myself"; I didn't know yet how it gets lonely, picks up a sharp edge later on that ruins a day now and then-- ruins more than that, if you're not careful.

When it comes to the important things one is always alone.

True individuality can be lonely.

But he had gone his way, the grass all mown, And I must be, as he had been - alone, As all must be, I said within my heart, Whether they work together or apart.

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

Me, myself and I. That's all I got in the end.