The quote database

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

The young should early be trained to bear being left alone; for it is a source of happiness and peace of mind.

Ordinary people are sociable and complaisant just from the very opposite feeling;--to bear others' company is easier for them than to bear their own.

It is the monotony of his own nature that makes a man find solitude intolerable.

Peace of mind is impossible without a considerable amount of solitude.

the need of society drives the human porcupines together--only to be mutually repelled by the many prickly and disagreeable qualities of their nature

Great minds are like eagles, and build their nest in some lofty solitude.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that a man cannot forget,--but not himself, his own character.

No man is so formed that he can be left entirely to himself, to go his own ways; everyone needs to be guided by a preconceived plan, and to follow certain general rules.

The present alone is true and actual; it is the only time which possesses full reality, and our existence lies in it exclusively.

The truth is, that our nature is essentially restless in its character: we very soon get tired of having nothing to do; it is intolerable boredom.

To have no regular work, no set sphere of activity--what a miserable thing it is!

There is a direct pleasure in seeing work grow under one's hands day by day, until at last it is finished.

In old age it is indeed a consolation to think that the work of life is over and done with.

The prime reason for social intercourse is mutual need; and as soon as that is satisfied, boredom drives people together once more.