The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
People think they know me, but they don’t. Not really. Actually, I am one of the loneliest people on this earth. I cry sometimes, because it hurts. It does. To be honest, I guess you could say that it hurts to be me.
—Michael Jackson (1958–2009) American Singer-Songwriter
It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
We’re all lonely for something we don’t know we’re lonely for. How else to explain the curious feeling that goes around feeling like missing somebody we’ve never even met?
—David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American Novelist, Essayist
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
At the innermost core of all loneliness is a deep and powerful yearning for union with one’s lost self.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
Loneliness is the universal problem of rich people.
—Joan Collins (b.1933) English Actor, Author, Columnist
Loneliness is never more cruel than when it is felt in close propinquity with someone who has ceased to communicate.
—Germaine Greer (b.1939) Australia Academic, Journalist, Scholar, Writer
I have always sought to guide the future— but it is very lonely sometimes trying to play God.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.
—Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
If you are afraid of being lonely, don’t try to be right.
—Jules Renard (1864–1910) French Writer, Diarist
We’re all of us sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life!
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
Man’s loneliness is but his fear of life.
—Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953) American Playwright