We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.
—Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American Poet
We’re all of us sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life!
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
Not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each man is for ever thrown back on himself alone, and there is danger that he may be shut up in the solitude of his own heart.
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) French Historian, Political Scientist
Great men are rarely isolated mountain-peaks; they are the summits of ranges.
—Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911) American Social Reformer, Clergyman
We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.
—Orson Welles (1915–85) American Film Director, Actor
Fear is only an illusion. It is the illusion that creates the feeling of separateness — the false sense of isolation that exists only in your imagination.
—Jeraldine Saunders (1923–2019) American Writer, Television Personality
If isolation tempers the strong, it is the stumbling-block of the uncertain.
—Paul Cezanne (1839–1906) French Painter
A good artist should be isolated. If he isn’t isolated, something is wrong.
—Orson Welles (1915–85) American Film Director, Actor