Embrace Solitude: 50+ Inspirational Quotes Celebrating the Power of Being Alone

"The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself."

- Michel de Montaigne

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you are alone with."

- Wayne Dyer

"Being alone is not the same as being lonely. I like to do things that glorify being alone. I buy a candle that smells pretty, turn down the lights and make a playlist of low-key songs. If you don't act like you've been hit by the plague when you're alone on a Friday night, and just see it as a chance to have fun by yourself, it's not a bad day."

- Taylor Swift

"Find company within yourself and you'll never spend a day alone. Find love within yourself and you'll never have a lonely day."

- Connor Chalfant

"If you go deeper and deeper into your own heart, you'll be living in a world with less fear, isolation, and loneliness."

- Sharon Salzberg

"Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its complement."

- Paulo Coelho

"Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth."

- Kahlil Gibran

"Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape."

- Bell Hooks

"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself."

- Charlotte Brontë

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Be so fulfilled with yourself, that even when you are alone, you feel in good company."

- Irini Zoica

"If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself."

- Paulo Coelho

"Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren't a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was."

- Cheryl Strayed

"Our language has wisely sensed these two sides of man's being alone. It has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone."

- Paul Tillich

"A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone."

- Mandy Hale

"Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self."

- May Sarton

"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. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will."

- Henry David Thoreau

"I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel."

- Audrey Hepburn

"You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity."

- Jim Rohn

"Solitude is where one discovers one’s true self."

- Joseph Campbell

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with."

- Wayne Dyer

"It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"There is no support so strong as the strength that enables one to stand alone."

- Ellen Glasgow

"I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone."

- Bobcat Goldthwait

"Why does no one tell us how important it is to enjoy being single and being by yourself? That time is defining and amazing and nothing to ‘sure’. It is being alone that will actually set you up the best for being with someone else."

- Drew Barrymore

"I think alone time is good to know how to be alone with your own thoughts. I think it just helps you kind of be a better, more grounded person."

- Carrie Brownstein

"The greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own."

- Michel de Montaigne

"Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony."

- Douglas Coupland

"Alone time is when I distance myself from the voices of the world so I can hear my own."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Solitude isn’t loneliness. Solitude is when the entire universe seems to surround and hold you quietly."

- Victoria Erickson

"I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud, or than Walden Pond itself. What company has that lonely lake, I pray? And yet it has not the blue devils, but the blue angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters."

- Henry David Thoreau

"We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and—in spite of True Romance magazines—we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness."

- Hunter S Thompson

"When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you."

- Lao Tzu

"Now I know: I’m alone. I and my freedom that I don’t know how to use. Great responsibility of solitude. Whoever isn’t lost doesn’t know freedom and love it. As for me, I own up to my solitude and that sometimes falls into ecstasy as before fireworks. I am alone and must live a certain intimate glory that in solitude can become pain. And the pain, silence. I keep its name secret. I need secrets in order to live."

- Clarice Lispector

"You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

- Marcus Aurelius

"I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude."

- Henry David Thoreau

"Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born."

- Nikola Tesla

"A man can be himself only so long as he is alone."

- Arthur Schopenhauer

"Solitude is independence."

- Hermann Hesse

"Solitude is the strength of being alone, which is very different from loneliness."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Solitude is the place of purification. In the ice of solitude man becomes most inexorably a question to himself, and just because the question pitilessly summons and draws into play his most secret life he becomes an experience to himself."

- Martin Buber

"In solitude, the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself."

- Laurence Sterne

"I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."

- Henry David Thoreau

"Do not rely on others for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that."

- Stacey Charter

"I’m not alone! I’m with myself. And myself is fabulous."

- Eva Longoria

"A little while alone in your room will prove more valuable than anything else that could ever be given you."

- Rumi

"Silence is a source of great strength."

- Lao Tzu

"Solitude is the place of purification."

- Martin Buber

"Alone is a fact, a condition where no one else is around. Lonely is how you feel about that."

- Jeannette Winterson

"I think it’s good for a person to spend time alone. It gives them an opportunity to discover who they are."

- Amy Sedaris

"What a lovely surprise to finally discover how unlonely being alone can be."

- Ellen Burstyn

"Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time."

- Hermann Hesse

"I restore myself when I’m alone."

- Maya Angelou

"Live alone in your mind — that is happiness. To have nobody to care for and never minding who cares for one is the way to be free."

- Swami Vivekananda

"Knowing how to belong to yourself is an art in a world where everyone is finding their home in others."

- Renuka Gavrani

"I need a little alone time/A little dream time"

- Rufus Wainwright

"I restore myself when I'm alone. A career is born in public — talent in privacy."

- Marilyn Monroe

"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone."

- Robin Williams

"Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows and to improve their conditions of life."

- Albert Einstein

"Seek to be alone much to commune with Nature and be thus inspired by her mighty whisperings within your consciousness. Nature is a most jealous god, for she will not whisper her inspiring revelations to you unless you are absolutely alone with her."

- Walter Russell

"Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feelings of isolation."

- Albert Einstein

"I'm actually really interested in living more of a life of solitude. It's really nice to just have time to be alone, and be expansive and know that you're enough. I wish I could tell my younger self that."

- Lady Gaga

"The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude."

- Aldous Huxley

"Without great solitude, no serious work is possible."

- Pablo Picasso

"Closed in a room, my imagination becomes the universe, and the rest of the world is missing out."

- Criss Jami

"Solitude is the soul’s holiday, an opportunity to stop doing for others and to surprise and delight ourselves instead."

- Katrina Kenison

"There is a magic in walking alone, in thinking alone: If there is no one to contact you around, the universe starts contacting you!"

- Mehmet Murat ildan

"If isolation tempers the strong, it is the stumbling-block of the uncertain."

- Paul Cezanne

"We all live such distant and anonymous lives; disguised, we suffer the fate of strangers. To some, however, this distance between another being and ourselves is never revealed; to others it is revealed only every now and then, through horror or pain, lit by a limitless lightning flash; for yet others it is the one painful constant in their daily lives."

- Fernando Pessoa

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice."

- Alice Koller

"If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company."

- Jean-Paul Sartre

"It’s far better to be alone than in bad company."

- George Washington

"The best thinking has been done in solitude."

- Thomas A. Edison

"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where I renew my springs that never dry up."

- Pearl S. Buck

"Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous."

- Thomas Mann

"The best part about being alone is that you really don’t have to answer to anybody."

- Justin Timberlake

"Solitude is where I place my chaos to rest and awaken my inner peace."

- Nikki Rowe

"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."

- Albert Einstein

"It is better to be alone than in bad company."

- George Washington

"Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely / A story with a middle only."

- Paul Durcan

"I am alone, I thought, and they are everybody."

- Fyodor Dostoevsky

"Loneliness is not lack of company, loneliness is lack of purpose."

- Guillermo Maldonado

"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."

- George Eliot

"You do not need to be loved, not at the cost of yourself."

- Jo Coudert

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."

- John Burroughs

"There is no place more delightful than one's own fireplace."

- Cicero

"I have a good life, I remind myself. There are plenty of people who love me. They’re just not around at the moment."

- Cynthia Hand

"Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for."

- Dag Hammarskjold

"To live alone is the fate of all great souls."

- Arthur Schopenhauer

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."

- Mother Teresa

"The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don't you?"

- Rumi

"The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude."

- Gabriel García Márquez

"The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom."

- William P. Douglas

"People make mistakes/Holding to their own/thinking they're alone"

- Stephen Sondheim

"Although she continued to knit, and sat upright, it was thus that she felt herself; and this self having shed its attachments was free for the strangest adventures. When life sank down for a moment, the range of experience seemed limitless."

- Virginia Woolf

"And all I lov'd — I lov'd alone"

- Edgar Allan Poe

"Nothing makes us lonelier than our secrets."

- Paul Tournier

"I pick roses out of water. I talk to voices in the wind. I see ghosts walk out of light."

- Patricia A. McKillip

"I remember my childhood as a long wish to be elsewhere."

- Louise Gluck

"The soul does not know whether anything real answers its love."

- Simone Weil

"Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better."

- Henry Rollins

"Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man."

- Thomas Wolfe

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"The eternal quest of the human being is to shatter his loneliness."

- Norman Cousins

"All great and precious things are lonely."

- John Steinbeck

"There is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock."

- Charles Bukowski

"There is no lonelier place than being with someone who has stopped loving you."

- Paulo Coelho

"There is nothing more lonely or terrifying than feeling unheard."

- House of Cards

"No one ever discovers the depths of their own loneliness until love leaves them."

- Leah Raeder

"We’re all lonely for something we don’t know we’re lonely for."

- David Foster Wallace

"Tears come from the heart and not from the brain."

- Leonardo da Vinci

"It’s strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely."

- Albert Einstein

"Let's be alone together."

- Fall Out Boy

"Sometimes, you need to be alone. Not to be lonely, but to enjoy your free time being yourself."

"Happiness is being alone with your own thoughts."

- Unknown

"Finding yourself may be lonely work, but the rewards are absolutely worth it."

"Sometimes the path you need to walk is lonely, but the destination will be well worth the journey."

"I'm the kind of person who needs to live alone."

"Sometimes you have to stand alone just to make sure you still can."

"Being alone gives you the freedom to be yourself fully."

"Solitude is the gateway to self-actualization."

"Spending time alone gives you the space to find yourself."

"Being comfortable on your own is a superpower."

"When you enjoy your own company, you're never truly alone."

"There's a tremendous difference between alone and lonely."

"If you want to be strong, learn to enjoy being alone."

"True happiness is found when you learn to enjoy your own company."

"With the right mindset, solitude can be the perfect space to grow into the person you were meant to be."

"When you learn how to be alone, you’ll discover the true power of solitude."

"Alone time is a gift we give ourselves to recharge and reflect."

"Sometimes you've got to disconnect to introspect."

"Alone time is a gift."

"Alone time is an investment that'll pay for itself tenfold in the future."

"Solitude and peace go hand-in-hand."

"Learning how to be alone is a powerful skill."

"My favorite company is my own. I feel the most me when I'm by myself."

"Whoever hates alone time isn't spending theirs right."

"The greatest gift is a moment alone."

"Loneliness comes and goes. But most importantly, it goes."

"Happiness is finding yourself and realizing you’re all you need."

"My happiness doesn’t rely on others; it’s rooted in my soul."

"In my solitude, I grow, I learn, I thrive."

"You can’t be strong all the time. Sometimes you just need to be alone and let your tears out."

"Happiness is being comfortable in your own silence."

"Being alone is not a curse but a chance to create your own happiness."

"True happiness is unshaken by the presence or absence of others."

"I am not alone; I am with myself, and that is enough."

"Alone but happy: because life’s best moments come from within."

"Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself."

"In solitude, I found my truest self."

"Alone but happy, because my company is my favorite."

"Happiness is the reward for embracing solitude."

"The best journey is the one within yourself."

"My loneliness is not by chance, it is a choice I made to heal myself."

"Solitude isn’t emptiness; it’s the fullness of being."

"Solitude isn’t a void; it’s a canvas for self-expression."

"Sometimes I feel like I’m alone in a world full of people."

"Peace begins when the world’s noise fades away."