QuoteProject
Being alone makes us stronger. That’s the honest truth. But it’s cold comfort, since even if I wanted company no one will come near me anymore.
Roberto Bolano
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Being alone can foster inner strength, but it also highlights the pain of solitude.

This quote reflects on the paradox of solitude; while it can fortify an individual’s resilience and independence, it can also lead to deep feelings of loneliness and isolation. The speaker acknowledges the strength gained from being alone, yet simultaneously expresses a longing for companionship that has seemingly vanished. This duality captures the complex emotional landscape of human experience, where personal growth often comes at the cost of connection with others.

Themes

StrengthSolitudeLonelinessIndependenceConnection

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about personal growth, this quote can illustrate how solitude can build resilience.

More from Roberto Bolano

Coincidence obeys no laws and if it does we don't know what they are. Coincidence, if you'll permit me the simile, is like the manifestation of God at every moment on our planet. A senseless God making senseless gestures at his senseless creatures. In that hurricane, in that osseous implosion, we find communion.
Roberto BolanoRead
The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.
Roberto BolanoRead
I'd obviously never heard of the group, but my ignorance in literary matters is to blame for that (every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me).
Roberto BolanoRead
Every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me.
Roberto BolanoRead
Bright colours in the west, giant butterflies dancing as night crept like a cripple toward the east.
Roberto BolanoRead
Of all the islands he'd visited, two stood out. The island of the past, he said, where the only time was past time and the inhabitants were bored and more or less happy, but where the weight of illusion was so great that the island sank a little deeper into the river every day. And the island of the future, where the only time was the future, and the inhabitants were planners and strivers, such strivers, said Ulises, that they were likely to end up devouring one another.
Roberto BolanoRead

Similar quotes

The principle of tolerance and respect for freedom promoted by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council are today being manipulated and erroneously taken too far.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Justice and mercy/ Are human dreams, they do not concern the birds nor the fish nor eternal God.
Robinson JeffersRead
Men always try to make virtues of their weaknesses. Fear of death and fear of life both become piety.
H. L. MenckenRead
Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.
Pope FrancisRead
The weariness of the cell is the vigour of the organism.
George OrwellRead
Were the happiness of the next world is as closely apprehended as the felicities of this, it were a martyrdom to live.
Thomas BrowneRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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