QuoteProject
I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
Henry David Thoreau
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Thoreau expresses the value and comfort he finds in solitude over social company.

In this quote, Henry David Thoreau emphasizes the significance of solitude in one's life. He suggests that while companionship can be enjoyable, it often leads to weariness and distractions. Thoreau argues that solitude is not only a refuge but also a more profound and fulfilling form of companionship. His reflection highlights the importance of self-discovery and personal peace that can be achieved through spending time alone.

Themes

SolitudeCompanionshipSelf-DiscoveryPeaceLoneliness

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about the importance of self-reflection and solitude.

More from Henry David Thoreau

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
Henry David ThoreauRead
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
Henry David ThoreauRead
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
Henry David ThoreauRead
That grand old poem called Winter
Henry David ThoreauRead

Similar quotes

Bastard Freedom waves Her fustian flag in mockery over slaves.
Thomas MooreRead
While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph.
Lewis HineRead
So it is the human condition that to wish for the greatness of one's fatherland is to wish evil to one's neighbors. The citizen of the universe would be the man who wishes his country never to be either greater or smaller, richer or poorer.
VoltaireRead
While the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God.
David PlattRead
A person is either himself or not himself; is either rooted in his existence or is a fabrication; has either found his humanhood or is still playing with masks and roles and status symbols. And nobody is more aware of this difference (although unconsciously) than a child. Only an authentic person can evoke a good response in the core of the other person; only person is resonant to person.
Sydney J. HarrisRead
No bloody or unbloody change of society can eradicate the evil in man: as long as there will be men, there will be malice, envy and hatred, and hence there cannot be a society which does not have to employ coercive restraint.
Leo StraussRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Henry David Thoreau | QuoteProject