"There has to be a known end to the solitude. You have to know it's temporary for it to be enjoyed."
–– Iain Reid (b. 1981), Canadian writer
Source: Iain Reid. The Truth About Luck: What I learned on my road trip with grandma. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2013; p. 84.
via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 100.
"The problem is no longer getting people to express themselves, but providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say ... What a relief to have nothing to say, the right to say nothing, because only then is there a chance of framing ... the thing that might be worth saying."
–– Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), French philosopher
Source: Nitch, Instagram, September 20, 2024.
via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 26.
"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, pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins (1952-2021), American writer, academic, & activist
"I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of quiet life stimulates the creative mind."
–– Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American theoretical physicist
via: Sketchbook 27, 2015, p. 150.
"when it gets right down to it the individuals that are really doing interesting things and changing the world don't seem to [be] paying much attention to the cutting edge technologies. they're too busy conducting experiments, spending time alone, making mistakes, dreaming up new ideas, sitting in the midst of uncertainty...embracing mystery."
–– Keri Smith (b. 1975), Canadian author, illustrator and Conceptual artist
"I daydream a lot –– that's how I get my ideas. If I'm sitting in a café, I'm not on my phone because I want to hear my mind. I think that those periods of small solitude that we are losing are so important."
–– Patti Smith (b. 1946), American writer, poet, singer-songwriter and musician
