With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.
Interpretation
Some people seek solitude to avoid facing their own inner selves, perceiving others only as mirrors of their own identity.
This quote reflects the idea that for some individuals, being alone is not merely a desire to distance themselves from others, but rather a means of escaping from their own thoughts and feelings. They rely on the perceptions of others to define their self-worth and identity, and in the absence of those external reflections, they may confront uncomfortable truths about who they are. This suggests a profound connection between solitude, self-awareness, and the dependence on social validation.
In practice
In a motivational speech about self-discovery, this quote can emphasize the importance of understanding oneself.
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.
Faith in humanity, in posterity, in the destiny of one's religion, nation, race, party or family-what is it but the visualization of that eternal something to which we attach the self that is about to be annihilated?
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about.
Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life. Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.
Until the men of action clear out the talkers we who have social consciences are at the mercy of those who have none.
To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly.
Part of the human Self or Soul is not subject to laws of space and time.
What is born will die, What has been gathered will be dispersed, What has been accumulated will be exhausted, What has been built up will collapse, And what has been high will be brought low.
A prediction, in a field where prediction is not possible, is no more than a prejudice.
Through our sunless lanes creeps Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden face follows close behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning and Shame sits with us at night.
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