Socializing is as exhausting as giving blood. People assume we loners are misanthropes, just sitting thinking, ‘Oh, people are such a bunch of asshol…

- Anneli Rufus

The whole world is a personality cult.

- Anneli Rufus

Writing is done alone. People do not talk about the things they do alone.

- Anneli Rufus

We believe that whatever feels at first like joy is not. Or is, but will not last. Or should not last. We feel so sure of this that we will undermine…

- Anneli Rufus

Loners live among the mob, so the mob mistakes us for its own, presuming and assuming. When the mob gets too close, the truth is revealed. Running or…

- Anneli Rufus

We care. We feel. We think. We do not always miss the absent one. We cannot always come when called. Being friends with a loner requires patience and…

- Anneli Rufus

After what others would call a fun day out together, we feel as if we have been at the Red Cross, donating blood.

- Anneli Rufus

And as experienced as I am, it still summons an act of bravery from me, and I like that. I like the idea of setting an example - proving that it is a…

- Anneli Rufus

Not that I was incapable of friendship. 'Don't be shy', the teachers coaxed. I was not shy, only extremely choosy. And Denise shone like a diamond. I…

- Anneli Rufus