“
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
“
And so I ask myself: 'Where are your dreams?' And I shake my head and mutter: 'How the years go by!' And I ask myself again: 'What have you done with those years? Where have you buried your best moments? Have you really lived? Look,' I say to myself, 'how cold it is becoming all over the world!' And more years will pass and behind them will creep grim isolation. Tottering senility will come hobbling, leaning on a crutch, and behind these will come unrelieved boredom and despair. The world of fancies will fade, dreams will wilt and die and fall like autumn leaves from the trees. . . .
”
”
Fyodor Dostoevsky (White Nights)
“
Don't believe the lie of individual trees, each a monument to its own self-made success. A forest is an interdependent community. Resources are shared, and life in isolation is a death sentence.
”
”
Becky Chambers (To Be Taught, If Fortunate)
“
Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: 'What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?' You would be ashamed to confess it! And then remind yourself that it is not the future or what has passed that afflicts you, but always the present, and the power of this is much diminished if you take it in isolation and call your mind to task if it thinks that it cannot stand up to it when taken on its own.
”
”
Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
“
When we recognize a terrene bubbling with freshness, spontaneous joy, and communal spirit behind the wall of superficiality, we must not stop disrupting our cycle of overthinking and isolation and welcome the presence and inspiration of others. ("'Is that all there is ?").
”
”
Erik Pevernagie
“
I was alone. I had no one. No mother, no father, no brothers, no sisters, no grandmas, no grandpas, no uncles, no aunties, no cousins, and no tribe. I’d seen the children at the orphanage laugh or cry when they received news about a family member. I would never receive such news and no family would laugh or cry for me. That day I understood with sharp clarity that I didn’t have a mother who wanted me.
”
”
Maria Nhambu (Africa's Child (Dancing Soul Trilogy, #1))
“
Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed? Can the writer isolate and vivify all in experience that most deeply engages our intellects and our hearts? Can the writer renew our hope for literary forms? Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaningfulness, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so that we may feel again their majesty and power? What do we ever know that is higher than that power which, from time to time, seizes our lives, and reveals us startlingly to ourselves as creatures set down here bewildered? Why does death so catch us by surprise, and why love? We still and always want waking.
”
”
Annie Dillard (The Writing Life)
“
She liked to imagine that when she passed, the world looked after her, but she also knew how anonymous she was. Except when she was at work, no one knew where she was at any time of day and no one waited for her. It was immaculate anonymity.
”
”
Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones)
“
Why does each thing on the earth war against each other thing? Why does each small thing in the world have to fight against the world itself? Why does a fly have to fight the whole universe? Why does a dandelion have to fight the whole universe? For the same reason that I had to be alone in the dreadful Council of the Days. So that each thing that obeys law may have the glory and isolation of the anarchist. So that each man fighting for order may be as brave and good a man as the dynamiter. So that the real lie of Satan may be flung back in the face of this blasphemer, so that by tears and torture we may earn the right to say to this man, 'You lie!' No agonies can be too great to buy the right to say to this accuser, 'We also have suffered.
”
”
G.K. Chesterton (The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare)
“
A lot of people think the hardest part about religious doubt is feeling isolated from God. It’s not. At least in my experience, the hardest part about doubt is feeling isolated from your community.
”
”
Rachel Held Evans (Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again)
“
Anything that inspires addiction or obsession - substances, entertainment, beauty, secrecy - is dangerous in that it can lead to isolation, self-absorption, and disconnection, to paralyzed stasis: an immobility that gathers like a force.
”
”
Greg Carlisle (Elegant Complexity: A Study of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest)
“
When our focus is toward a principle of relatedness and oneness, and away from fragmentation and isolation, health ensues
”
”
Larry Dossey (Space, Time, and Medicine: Foreword by Fritjof Capra)
“
Most ideas are born and lost in isolation.
”
”
Scott Belsky (Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality)
“
Our children are fighting a silent war because they are broken down and tired. They isolate themselves from the pain. Deep inside they are screaming for help. They should not fight this silent killer alone.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson
“
Tegularius was a willful, moody person who refused to fit into his society. Every so often he would display the liveliness of his intellect. When highly stimulated he could be entrancing; his mordant wit sparkled and he overwhelmed everyone with the audacity and richness of his sometimes somber inspirations. But basically he was incurable, for he did not want to be cured; he cared nothing for co-ordination and a place in the scheme of things. He loved nothing but his freedom, his perpetual student status, and preferred spending his whole life as the unpredictable and obstinate loner, the gifted fool and nihilist, to following the path of subordination to the hierarchy and thus attaining peace. He cared nothing for peace, had no regard for the hierarchy, hardly minded reproof and isolation. Certainly he was a most inconvenient and indigestible component in a community whose idea was harmony and orderliness. But because of this very troublesomeness and indigestibility he was, in the midst of such a limpid and prearranged little world, a constant source of vital unrest, a reproach, an admonition and warning, a spur to new, bold, forbidden, intrepid ideas, an unruly, stubborn sheep in the herd.
”
”
Hermann Hesse (The Glass Bead Game)
“
Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed? Can the writer isolate and vivify all in experience that most deeply engages our intellects and our heats? Can the writer renew our hope for literary forms? Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaningfulness, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so we may feel again their majesty and power?
”
”
Annie Dillard (The Writing Life)
“
A caterpillar must endure a season of isolation before it turns into a butterfly. Embrace the time you have alone, it will only make you stronger.
”
”
Steven P. Aitchison
“
…he is unlike the other customers. They sense it too, and look at him with hard eyes, eyes like little metal studs pinned into the white faces of young men [...] In the hush his entrance creates, the excessive courtesy the weary woman behind the counter shows him amplifies his strangeness. He orders coffee quietly and studies the rim of the cup to steady the sliding in his stomach. He had thought, he had read, that from shore to shore all America was the same. He wonders, Is it just these people I’m outside or is it all America?
”
”
John Updike (Rabbit, Run)
“
Isolation is a gift. Everything else is just a test of your endurance. You will be alone with the Gods. Your nights will flame with fire.
”
”
Charles Bukowski
“
You religious men who boast so much that you live on charity including what the poor manage to scrape together out of their meagre income - how can you justify your actions? How can your moral conscience be clear when you acknowledge that in no way do you contribute to the society that is maintaining you, day after day? In your self complacent conceit, you denigrate and harshly condemn, those who, with their sweat and hard work, provide you with a life fit for a king. What is the reason you spend your lives living comfortably in some ashram or isolated monastery when life only makes sense if it is experienced with your fellow brothers and sisters by showing compassion to them? It is easy and simple enough to spend your lives meditating in the Himalayas being irritated by nothing and no one if not the occasional goat, rather than placing yourselves in the midst of your fellow men and living an ordinary life of toil as they do. Do not delude yourselves, because what you refer to as a state of internal peace represents nothing but the personal satisfaction of the conscious ego that is admiring and adoring itself..
”
”
Anton Sammut (The Secret Gospel of Jesus, AD 0-78)
“
Our children who are being bullied shouldn’t feel hopeless, they shouldn’t fear for their lives, nor should they isolate themselves in silence because someone enjoys causing fear and getting a reaction out of them.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson
“
Loneliness makes us more capable of true intimacy if ever better opportunities do come along. We might be isolated for now, but we'll be capable of far closer, more interesting bonds with anyone we do eventually locate.
”
”
Alain de Botton
“
He was seated on the bench now. He had his left elbow on his knee, his right arm across his lap, his shoulders hunched, his head bowed. White face, red hair: snow and fire, like something from an old tale. The book I had noticed earlier was on the bench beside him, its covers shut. Around Anluan's feet and in the birdbath, small visitors to the garden hopped and splashed and made the most of the day that was becoming fair and sunny. He did not seem to notice them. As for me, I found it difficult to take my eyes from him. There was an odd beauty in his isolation and his sadness, like that of a forlorn prince ensorcelled by a wicked enchantress, or a traveller lost forever in a world far from home.
”
”
Juliet Marillier (Heart's Blood)
“
I isolated myself from people on purpose, because I didn’t want any problems. I didn’t want to feed your starving low-self-esteem.”
~Love is respect ♥~
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (In Love With Blindfolds On)
“
This in essence is my goal. To set an example by doing what is good. If I live openly and honestly, I set an example of virtue, humanness, restoration, and healing. I give others permission to join me on my journey despite the fear of failure or the rejection it might elicit when they know they are not alone in their experience. The more of us who amass the courage to embark openly on this path, the more normal this experience becomes, effectively eliminating the tactic of shame and isolation that the enemy so often uses to cause us to falter.
”
”
Riisa Renee (Breaking the Silence)
“
What is in mind is a sort of Chautauqua...that's the only name I can think of for it...like the traveling tent-show Chautauquas that used to move across America, this America, the one that we are now in, an old-time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer. The Chautauquas were pushed aside by faster-paced radio, movies and TV, and it seems to me the change was not entirely an improvement. Perhaps because of these changes the stream of national consciousness moves faster now, and is broader, but it seems to run less deep. The old channels cannot contain it and in its search for new ones there seems to be growing havoc and destruction along its banks. In this Chautauqua I would like not to cut any new channels of consciousness but simply dig deeper into old ones that have become silted in with the debris of thoughts grown stale and platitudes too often repeated. "What's new?" is an interesting and broadening eternal question, but one which, if pursued exclusively, results only in an endless parade of trivia and fashion, the silt of tomorrow. I would like, instead, to be concerned with the question "What is best?," a question which cuts deeply rather than broadly, a question whose answers tend to move the silt downstream. There are eras of human history in which the channels of thought have been too deeply cut and no change was possible, and nothing new ever happened, and "best" was a matter of dogma, but that is not the situation now. Now the stream of our common consciousness seems to be obliterating its own banks, losing its central direction and purpose, flooding the lowlands, disconnecting and isolating the highlands and to no particular purpose other than the wasteful fulfillment of its own internal momentum. Some channel deepening seems called for.
”
”
Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1))
“
There is strength in isolation, there's strength in being obsessive about something.
”
”
Michael Jackson
“
Because even if you spend your life chasing the immaterial, listening to the most exquisite classical music and getting drunk off of stunning vistas of mountains and waterfalls, all of it isn't worth a dime if you aren’t sharing it with someone. Everything amounts to that. True, we must experience most things in solitude to grow, create, destroy and grow again, but our pleasure and joy reaches a threshold in isolation. It is the worst thing to become an island. One must become the whole world.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
If you've just left a place of difficulty, don't then move into the shadows, alone with your thoughts. Spend your time with friends, or even just people who care about you. It might feel more self-protective to isolate yourself, but the reality is that you need to let the light in.
”
”
Sally Hanan (Fix Yourself: In Jesus)
“
Caught in your youniverse again? Try reaching out to the one besides you!
”
”
Stefan Emunds
“
It was more than loneliness, than isolation; it was a feeling of somehow being invisible and transparent at the same time, of sinking & slipping of falling away.
”
”
Gina Troisi (The Angle of Flickering Light)
“
No matter what you are dealing with in life, be it resentment or regret, bitterness or sadness, anger or apathy, hatred or hesitation, depression or disempowerment, disappointment or other destructive anxieties, painful envy or emotional turmoil, fear of isolation or thoughts of failure, keep in mind that if you are positive, positivity will find you and embrace you!
”
”
Widad Akreyi
“
Ibn Mas'ud said, "When 'Umar died nine-tenth of all knowledge vanished with him." The people were shocked and said, "How can this be when among us now are still many of the great companions?" Ibn Mas'ud replied,"I am not speaking of the knowledge of fiqh and the science of judgements, I'm speaking about the knowledge of Allah." This struggle of isolation, hunger, sleeplessness, weeping, fear and endless service to men was for this end. The journey is only for knowledge of Allah and the whole of it lies in detachment from everything that passes away. First from what is displeasing to Allah, then from one's self-illusion and desires, and then from all men and all otherness until there is only isolation and extreme nearness to Allah.
”
”
Khalid Muhammad Khalid (Men Around the Messenger: The Companions of the Prophet)
“
He had known since the age of nine that essentially he was alone and that he would always be alone, a conclusion more common to the forties.
Now, in his forties, he was seized by a fantasy life with the brilliance and freshness and immediacy of childhood. It took him a step beyond alone.
At a time when other men first see and fear their isolation, Dolarhyde's became understandable to him: he was alone because he was unique. With the fervor of conversion he saw that if he worked at it, if he followed the true urges he had kept down for so long, cultivated them as the inspirations they truly were, he could become.
”
”
Thomas Harris (Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter, #1))
“
Men are taught over and over when they are boys that a wound that hurts is shameful. A wound that stops you from continuing to play is a girlish wound. He who is truly a man keeps walking, dragging his guts behind.
Our story gives a teaching diametrically opposite. It says that where a man's wound is, that is where his genius will be. Wherever the wound appears in our psyches, whether from alcoholic father, shaming mother, shaming father, abusing mother, whether it stems from isolation, disability, or disease, that is precisely the place for which we will give our major gift to the community.
”
”
Robert Bly (Iron John: A Book About Men)
“
We are training not isolated men but a living group of men, - nay, a group within a group. And the final product of our training must be neither a psychologist nor a brickmason, but a man. And to make men, we must have ideals, broad, pure, and inspiring ends of living, - not sordid money-getting, not apples of gold. The worker must work for the lory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame. And all this is gained only by human strife and longing; by ceaseless training and education; by founding Right on righteousness and Truth on the unhampered search for Truth...and weaving thus a system, not a distortion, and bringing a birth, not an abortion.
”
”
W.E.B. Du Bois
“
She could not then know that, even for the squarest peg, the right hole may ultimately be found
”
”
Henry Handel Richardson (The Getting of Wisdom)
“
With a large enough number, a single digit will not have any impact. It's when you isolate the numbers, set them apart, that they become important on their own.
”
”
Kiersten White (Illusions of Fate)
“
In a world that often feels overwhelming and isolating, there is no greater kindness than being fully present, truly listening, and making others feel they are not alone.
”
”
Bhuwan Thapaliya
“
The messages coming back flooded the comm buffers with rage and sorrow, threats of vengeance and offers of aid. Those last were the hardest. New colonies still trying to force their way into local ecosystems so exotic that their bodies could hardly recognize them as life at all, isolated, exhausted, sometimes at the edge of their resources. And what they wanted was to send back help. He listened to their voices, saw the distress in their eyes. He couldn't help, but love them a little bit.
Under the best conditions, disasters and plagues did that. It wasn't universally true. There would always be hoarders and price gouging, people who closed their doors to refugees and left them freezing and starving. But the impulse to help was there too. To carry a burden together, even if it meant having less for yourself. Humanity had come as far as it had in a haze of war, sickness, violence, and genocide. History was drenched in blood. But it also had cooperation and kindness, generosity, intermarriage. The one didn’t come without the other.
”
”
James S.A. Corey (Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse, #6))
“
Grounding is taking a conscious effort to retract oneself from the world’s distractions, and then focusing on listening to isolate the voice of God within from the voice of the ego. The voice of God within is where all the answers lie.
”
”
Jacent Mary Mpalyenkana
“
To engage the written word means to follow a line of thought, which requires considerable powers of classifying, inference-making and reasoning. It means to uncover lies, confusions, and overgeneralizations, to detect abuses of logic and common sense. It also means to weigh ideas, to compare and contrast assertions, to connect one generalization to another. To accomplish this, one must achieve a certain distance from the words themselves, which is, in fact, encouraged by the isolated and impersonal text. That is why a good reader does not cheer an apt sentence or pause to applaud even an inspired paragraph. Analytic thought is too busy for that, and too detached.
”
”
Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“
Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell that dog the footsteps of the poor, the dispossessed, the disinherited. There is nothing new or recent about fear—it is doubtless as old as the life of man on the planet. Fears are of many kinds—fear of objects, fear of people, fear of the future, fear of nature, fear of the unknown, fear of old age, fear of disease, and fear of life itself. Then there is fear which has to do with aspects of experience and detailed states of mind.
Our homes, institutions, prisons, churches, are crowded with people who are hounded by day and harrowed by night because of some fear that lurks ready to spring into action as soon as one is alone, or as soon as the lights go out, or as soon as one’s social defenses are temporarily removed.
The ever-present fear that besets the vast poor, the economically and socially insecure, is a fear of still a different breed. It is a climate closing in; it is like the fog in San Francisco or in London. It is nowhere in particular yet everywhere. It is a mood which one carries around with himself, distilled from the acrid conflict with which his days are surrounded. It has its roots deep in the heart of the relations between the weak and the strong, between the controllers of environment and those who are controlled by it.
When the basis of such fear is analyzed, it is clear that it arises out of the sense of isolation and helplessness in the face of the varied dimensions of violence to which the underprivileged are exposed. Violence, precipitate and stark, is the sire of the fear of such people. It is spawned by the perpetual threat of violence everywhere. Of course, physical violence is the most obvious cause. But here, it is important to point out, a particular kind of physical violence or its counterpart is evidenced; it is violence that is devoid of the element of contest. It is what is feared by the rabbit that cannot ultimately escape the hounds.
”
”
Howard Thurman
“
Sometimes parents avoid dealing with their child’s feelings by turning to technology as a way of removing themselves from the stress of the moment. According to research, this only increases the child’s misery and inspires even more bad behavior … which parents then use as an excuse to isolate themselves even further.
”
”
Marc Brackett (Permission to Feel: The Power of Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Well-Being and Success)
“
Father of the fatherless children, it is time to change; and the time is now. You shouldn’t want your sons and daughters to isolate themselves from the world because of your doing. You should want more for your children. You shouldn’t want your sons and daughters to feel empty and alone because your presence never existed.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (Dear fathers of the fatherless children)
“
I’m not impressed should someone tell me that a certain man I consider crazy or stupid surpasses a common man in many achievements and particulars of life. Epileptics have amazing strength when they go into seizure; paranoiacs have an ability to reason that few normal men can match; religious maniacs bring multitudes of believers together as few (if any) demagogues can, and with a force of conviction that the latter can’t inspire in their followers. And all that this proves is that craziness is craziness. I prefer a defeat that knows the beauty of flowers to a victory in the desert, full of blindness in the soul, alone with its isolated nothingness.
”
”
Fernando Pessoa (The Book of Disquiet)
“
About a stone-cast from the wall
A sluice with blacken'd waters slept,
And o'er it many, round and small,
The cluster'd marish-mosses crept.
”
”
Alfred Tennyson
“
We take that step in the darkness because of an inkling, perhaps faint, uncertain, but alive. We feel inspired. Or perhaps we simply feel tired of being confined.
”
”
Sharon Salzberg (Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom)
“
Sometimes it's isolation before elevation.
”
”
Felicia Miracle Hankins
“
No person is great in isolation. It takes many hands to shape a life. Denial would mean conceit, and conceit is not the same as self-respect.
”
”
Shinde Sweety (Arjun: Without a Doubt)
“
Times of isolation with God will precede the times of inspiration we receive from God.”—IKE REIGHARD
”
”
Zig Ziglar (The One Year Daily Insights with Zig Ziglar (One Year Signature Line))
“
If we cannot embrace our own aloneness, we will simply use the other as a shield against isolation.
”
”
Irvin D. Yalom
“
Fortunately analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist. Experience of any one of a number of kinds may be sufficiently telling to bring about personality changes. It may be the inspiring example of a truly great person; it may be a common tragedy which by bringing the neurotic in close touch with others takes him out of his egocentric isolation; it may be association with persons so congenial that manipulating or avoiding them appears less necessary. In other instances the consequences of neurotic behavior may be so drastic or of such frequent occurrence that they impress themselves on the neurotic's mind and make him less fearful and less rigid.
”
”
Karen Horney (Our Inner Conflicts: A Constructive Theory of Neurosis)
“
The weak have been swept away.
That's the flaw in Vosch's master plan: If you don't kill all of us at once, those who remain will not be the weak.
It's the strong who remain, the bent but unbroken, like the iron rods that used to give this concrete its strength.
Flood, fires, earthquakes, disease, starvation, betrayal, isolation, murder.
What doesn't kill us sharpens us. Hardens us. Schools us.
”
”
Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1))
“
Okay, I know--my superpower--I'd be able to shoot lightening bolts out from my fingertips--great big knowledge network lightening bolts--and when a person was zapped by one of those bolts, they'd fall down on their knees and once on their knees, they'd be under water, in this place I saw once off the east coast of the Bahamas, a place where a billion electric blue fish swam up to me and made me a part of their school--and then they'd be up in the air, up in Manhattan, above the World Trade Center, with a flock of pigeons, flying amid the skyscrapers, and then--then what? And then they'd go blind, and then they'd be taken away--they'd feel homesick--more homesick than they'd felt in their entire life--so homesick they were throwing up--and they'd be abandoned, I don't know...in the middle of a harvested corn field in Missouri. And then they'd be able to see again, and from the edges of the field people would appear--everybody they'd known--and they'd be carrying Black Forest cakes and burning tiki lamps and boom boxes playing the same song, and they sky would turn into a sunset, the way it does in Walt Disney brochure, and the person I zapped would never be alone or isolated again.
”
”
Douglas Coupland (All Families are Psychotic)
“
In “The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry” Pound had found the inspiration of a moving syntax (as contrasted with the categorical syntax of Joyce, where parts of speech are things). “A true noun, an isolated thing,” we read in the Fenollosa essay, “does not exist in nature. Things are only the terminal points, or rather the meeting points of actions, cross-sections cut through actions, snap-shots. Neither can a pure verb, an abstract motion, be possible in nature. The eye sees noun and verb as one: things in motion, motion in things, and so the Chinese conception tends to represent them.
”
”
Robert Duncan (The H.D. Book)
“
It is quite normal to feel alone while on a cancer journey. When those of us with cancer speak out and share our experience, it helps build a sense of community and it is not such an isolated experience.
”
”
Tara Coyote (Grace, Grit & Gratitude: A Cancer Thriver's Journey from Hospice to Full Recovery with the Healing Power of Horses)
“
You’re not alone. You’re not isolated. I do know that kind of pain. I walked that path, empty of joy. I smiled outwardly, trying to hide my insecurities and fear which I stuck in the basement of my heart...
”
”
Janet Eckles
“
I think the most fundamental facts of being a person are 1. We must go on, 2. None of us ever walks alone. We may feel alone (in fact, we will feel alone), but even in the crushing grind of isolation, we aren't alone.
”
”
John Green (The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet)
“
The world tells us that our pasts define us, trapping us, isolating us and giving us little hope for change or betterment. I say our pasts design us for what's to come and gives us a platform to be heroes in the lives of others.
”
”
Shawn M Mcnamara
“
It is from this beautiful, feral place that we are able to respond to the breath of inspiration that summons us to the fullness of our creativity. Full, because we are cognizant that we are not a lone pair of hands or a single voice, that we do not create in isolation but bring our gift, the art of our lives, to one another, to the earth. We each touch the seven starlings closest to us in our own mumuration, and the ripple spreads faster than we could have imagined. .
”
”
Lyanda Lynn Haupt (Mozart's Starling)
“
As Ray states in The Great Good Place, the nature of a third place is one in which the presence of a "regular" is always welcome, although never required. Membership is a simple, fluid process of frequent social contact, renewed each time by choice of the people involved. Eventually, social bonds develop through a type of informal intimacy. The important aspect of these relationships is that they occur outside of any commitment and exist solely in the realm of basic human respect. I ascribe huge importance to this one point because it is this one valuable kernel that is slipping away from our isolated modern world. I think that we all miss its presence and this affects us all in very slight, painful ways.
”
”
Ray Oldenburg (Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities)
“
Yōshoku is the Japanese take on Western foods; much of it was created during the Meiji period (1868-1912), when, after centuries of isolation, Japan began importing goods and ideas from the outside world, including food. Yōshoku dishes such as hambaagu (salisbury steak in brown sauce), curry rice, potato croquettes, and "spaghetti naporitan" are now much-loved comfort food. They're also so unlike the dishes that inspired them that they tend to be really hard for Westerners to appreciate.
”
”
Matthew Amster-Burton (Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo)
“
Everyone loves to hear of such heroic acts not only because they are inspiring but because they are rarer in an increasingly anonymous and isolated society, a world where it is far easier to step over the man in need than to risk life and limb to save him.
”
”
Brett McKay (The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man)
“
Csikszentmihalyi suggests that the common idea of a creative individual coming up with great insights, discoveries, works, or inventions in isolation is wrong. Creativity results from a complex interaction between a person and their environment or culture, and also depends on timing.
”
”
Tom Butler-Bowdon (50 Psychology Classics: Who We Are, How We Think, What We Do: Insight and Inspiration from 50 Key Books (50 Classics))
“
.. then we come upon a single sentence, or an isolated phrase, and the mask of ceremonial vanishes to expose the familiar poignancy of man’s quest for immortality, with all its uncertainty and its aching desire. “No one has returned from there to tell us how they fare.”
The lament for a dead child, the demand for justice, the lover’s yearning for his beloved—before our recognition of the universality of human emotion, time and distance shrink, the barriers of language, color, and nationality go down; we look into the mind of a man three millennia dead and call him “brother.
”
”
Barbara Mertz (Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt)
“
Our campaigns have not grown more humanistic because our candidates are more benevolent or their policy concerns more salient. In fact, over the last decade, public confidence in institutions-- big business, the church, media, government-- has declined dramatically. The political conversation has privileged the nasty and trivial. Yet during that period, election seasons have awakened with a new culture of volunteer activity. This cannot be credited to a politics inspiring people to hand over their time but rather to campaign, newly alert to the irreplaceable value of a human touch, seeking it out. Finally campaigns are learning to quantify the ineffable—the value of a neighbor's knock, of a stranger's call, the delicate condition of being undecided-- and isolate the moment where a behavior can be changed, or a heart won. Campaigns have started treating voters like people again.
”
”
Sasha Issenberg (The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns)
“
Though they could be affectionate to other monkeys, few were able to mate as adults, and those who did have offspring were not able to take care of them properly. Clearly, the lack of normal response from their fake mothers, and their isolation from other monkeys, had made them socially backward. They
”
”
Tom Butler-Bowdon (50 Psychology Classics: Who We Are, How We Think, What We Do: Insight and Inspiration from 50 Key Books (50 Classics))
“
A l'opposé, les "apostates du conjugal" ont toujours cultivé une distance critique, voire une défiance totale à l'égard de ces rôles [de la bonne épouse ou de la bonne mère]. Ce sont aussi des femmes créatives, qui lisent beaucoup et qui ont une vie intérieure intense [...]. Elles se conçoivent comme des individus et non comme des représentantes d'archétypes féminins. Loin de l'isolement misérable que les préjugés associent au fait de vivre seule, cet affinement inlassable de leur identité produit un double effet : il leur permet d'apprivoiser et même de savourer cette solitude à laquelle la plupart des gens, mariés ou pas, sont confrontés, au moins par périodes, au cours de leurs vies, mais aussi de nouer des relations particulièrement intenses, car émanant du cœur de leur personnalité plutôt que de rôles sociaux convenus. En ce sens, la connaissance de soi n'est pas un "égoïsme", un repli sur soi, mais une voie royale vers les autres.
”
”
Mona Chollet (Sorcières : La puissance invaincue des femmes)
“
The ego develops a defense in order to protect itself against being overcome by unconscious demands such as sex and aggression. The work of the psychoanalyst is to get the person to become conscious of their instinctual urges, which may involve isolating the pain experienced when they were originally confronted by an unsatisfied impulse.
”
”
Tom Butler-Bowdon (50 Psychology Classics: Who We Are, How We Think, What We Do: Insight and Inspiration from 50 Key Books (50 Classics))
“
It seems a bad thing and detrimental to the creative work of the mind if Reason makes to close an examination of the ideas as they come pouring in -at the very gateway, as it were. Looked at in isolation, a thought may seem very trivial or very fantastic; but it may be made important by another thought that comes after it, and in conjunction with other thoughts that may seem equally absurd, it may serve to form a most effective link. Reason cannot form any opinion on all this unless it retains the thought long enough to look at it in connection with the others. On the other hand, where there is a creative mind, Reason -so it seems to me- relaxes its watch upon the gates, and the ideas rush in pell-mell, and only then does it look them through and examine them in a mass.
”
”
Friedrich Schiller
“
The world can be made beautiful again by viewing it as a battlefield. When we have defined and isolated the evil things, the colors come back into everything else. When evil things have become evil, good things, in a blazing apocalypse, become good. There are some men who are dreary because they do not believe in God; but there are many others who are dreary because they do not believe in the devil.
”
”
G.K. Chesterton
“
Following your own star means isolation, not knowing where to go, having to find out a completely new way for yourself instead of just going on the trodden path everybody else runs along. That's why there's always been a tendency in humans to project the uniqueness and the greatness of their own inner self onto outer personalities and become the servants, the devoted servants, admirers, and imitators of outer personalities.
”
”
Marie-Louise von Franz
“
Doing it all the time, whether or not we are in the mood, gives us ownership of our writing ability. It takes it out of the realm of conjuring where we stand on the rock of isolation, begging the winds for inspiration, and it makes it something as do-able as picking up a hammer and pounding a nail. Writing may be an art, but it is certainly a craft. It is a simple and workable thing that can be as steady and reliable as a chore—does that ruin the romance?
”
”
Julia Cameron (The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life)
“
As a fantasist, I well understand the power of escapism, particularly as relates to romance. But when so many stories aimed at the same audience all trumpet the same message – And Lo! There shall be Two Hot Boys, one of them your Heart’s Intended, the other a vain Pretender who is also hot and with whom you shall have guilty makeouts before settling down with your One True Love – I am inclined to stop viewing the situation as benign and start wondering why, for instance, the heroines in these stories are only ever given a powerful, magical destiny of great importance to the entire world so long as fulfilling it requires male protection, guidance and companionship, and which comes to an end just as soon as they settle their inevitable differences with said swain and start kissing.
I mean to invoke is something of the danger of mob rule, only applied to narrative and culture. Viz: that the comparative harmlessness of individuals does not prevent them from causing harm en masse. Take any one story with the structure mentioned above, and by itself, there’s no problem. But past a certain point, the numbers begin to tell – and that poses a tricky question. In the case of actual mobs, you’ll frequently find a ringleader, or at least a core set of agitators: belligerent louts who stir up feeling well beyond their ability to contain it. In the case of novels, however, things aren’t so clear cut. Authors tell the stories they want to tell, and even if a number of them choose to write a certain kind of narrative either in isolation or inspired by their fellows, holding any one of them accountable for the total outcome would be like trying to blame an avalanche on a single snowflake. Certainly, we may point at those with the greatest (arguable) influence or expostulate about creative domino effects, but as with the drop that breaks the levee, it is impossible to try and isolate the point at which a cluster of stories became a culture of stories – or, for that matter, to hold one particular narrative accountable for the whole.
”
”
Foz Meadows
“
In the Winchesters and their rebel angel friend Castiel, many fans have found the inspiration and courage to fight monsters and demons that exist in real life.
I also worry when people feel isolated and alone. We all need to feel we belong somewhere; it's left over from the early days of humanity when being being kicked out of the group literally meant you were going to die. When we feel alone, that evolutionary ingrained panic sets in, along with a whopping dose of depression. Fandom, I found, was an antidote.
”
”
Lynn S. Zubernis (Family Don't End with Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Has Changed Lives)
“
It's the enjoyment of every step in the process of doing; everything, not only the isolated piece we label art. If accomplishing is the only goal, all that it takes to reach that goal is too slow, too fatiguing-- an obstacle to what you want to achieve. If you want to rush the accomplishment, it is an inevitable disappointment. Then you rush to something else. The disappointment is reaped over and over again. But if every step is pleasant, then the accomplishment becomes even more, because it is nourished by what is going on.
”
”
Sue Bender (Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish)
“
Perceiving the ugliness and selfishness of the soul marred by sin and the effects of sin can produce scrupulosity or despair if the mercy and goodness of God is not seen in close proximity. Bernard describes well the despair that can result from a partial knowledge of self, aware only of areas of sin, isolated from knowledge of God. If he does not know how good God is (Ps. 72:1), how kind and gentle (Ps. 85:5), how willing to pardon (Is. 55:7), will not his sensually-inspired reason argue with him and say: “What are you doing?
”
”
Ralph Martin (The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints)
“
Maybe the real issue here is that we were not created to do life by ourselves. We were not given a sentence of solitary confinement and placed in a world of isolation, but from the moment we entered this human experience, it was clear there was a world waiting to be discovered, creatures which were there for our interaction.
And the spark inside us often has to be spoken to, to be touched by the soul of another. It’s as if the spark is only visible through the lens of night vision, a set of goggles which only another human being can hand to us.
”
”
Stephen Lovegrove (How to Find Yourself, Love Yourself, & Be Yourself: The Secret Instruction Manual for Being Human)
“
The people of Earth cannot progress in isolation from each other. The family unit, community spirit, and society as a whole are fragmenting at alarming rates as we sit inert behind our devices and social media. Fear of cultural appropriation inhibits the inspiration necessary for others to create new things. We must build on the towering achievements of all those who have gone before us. Then, by pooling our resources, regardless of race, colour, creed, gender, sexuality, or physical ability, we ensure that our legacy is a rich inheritance for all those yet to be born.
”
”
Stewart Stafford
“
I wonder if, in some way, our relationship was predestined from the start; if the reason we stayed together was precisely because that, in me, Paul had found someone who not only lacked that vital strength-giving security (which might have enabled me to leave him early on), but who had no yardstick with which to measure ‘normal’. And that was me. I’d had a strange, loveless, isolated childhood. I lost my mother early on, and of all the essentials I lacked growing up perhaps the most damaging in terms of my relationship choices was that I had no real concept of what constituted ‘normal’ behaviour.
”
”
Vikie shanks (Unravelled: The inspirational true story of a journey out of darkness)
“
When a gale strikes, a leader’s place is not belowdecks, but at the helm. He should strive to maintain a measure of detachment, both from the emotion of others around him and from the crisis itself, observing it clinically, dispassionately. And he must focus his thinking strictly on the decisions he needs to make, rather than on the consequences that might follow if his decisions are wrong. This detachment and focus will afford him as much isolation as circumstances allow, and they will make him resistant to the emotional tumult around him. From there, the leader must draw upon his inner strength.
”
”
Raymond M. Kethledge (Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude)
“
I know it's become fashionable to depict the police as sadistic Cossacks riding down innocent citizens, but I've become well enough acquainted with law-enforcement agencies across the country to know that's just not the case. Of course, a certain small percentage of policemen are irresponsible...but that doesn't justify the current unjust barrage of propaganda against a tribe of men who are hard-working, underpaid and daily risking their lives to protect us. I'm sure there are isolated instances of police brutality, but the rising crime rate and urban violence constitute a far, far more pressing problem.
”
”
Truman Capote
“
Luke begins as that innocent farm boy, with no particular religious convictions. He is isolated and rootless—an excellent target for extremists. Sure enough, he embarks on what an online commentator describes as a “dark journey into religious fundamentalism and extremism.” A disaffected and somewhat lost young man, in search of something, he comes across Obi-Wan Kenobi, plainly a religious fanatic, who follows self-evidently extremist ideas about the Force. “Within moments of meeting Luke, Obi-Wan tells Luke he must abandon his family and join him, going so far as telling a shocking lie that the Empire killed Luke’s father, hoping to inspire Luke to a life of jihad.” Obi-Wan
”
”
Cass R. Sunstein (The World According to Star Wars)
“
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.
go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.
if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.
do it, do it, do it.
do it.
all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.
”
”
Charles Bukowski
“
Climb That Mountain (Poem)
***
There is a mountain placed before us.
It's wide, big; high above the clouds.
With no way around it;
no choice about it.
Just to climb it,
even through low sighs.
Some mountains, we choose.
Often those that we pursue
are easy to climb.
They leave no bruise;
we step on them like crumbs.
No sweat, no fuse.
But also no valuable lesson.
Just an excuse after an excuse.
There are harsh sessions on the high mountain.
Hard lessons on the big mountain.
No breaks, no fountains.
Just hardships and rough times.
No awards, no rewards.
Just emotional, mental tides and fines.
Fine, we usually accept the challenge.
Out of options, we welcome the change.
An exchange of comfort for caution.
We become deranged for family.
For our children, friends, even lovers.
Some lovers who may become an enemy.
We become a destiny with no back covers.
With our back against the wall.
Our back totally exposed to all.
But, step by step,
day by day,
with our veins, we climb up but not in vain.
Some days we want to go back to our fortress.
Some days we only see black, no success.
But, after a while, mounting in grime,
we forget about the pain.
The hardships start to fade.
We start to familiarise the pain with the trees.
We accept the bushes and rocks as home.
We follow the footsteps of animals and bees;
looking for shortcuts to roam.
Seeking solace in the shade of what we see.
We seek and become one with isolation.
In isolation, we start to rely on ourselves more.
We learn to love all our sores;
to trust our own instincts.
We become stronger and sharper in senses.
And the stronger we become,
the faster we mount in fun.
In the end, we reach the top.
Out of it all,
we come out unbreakable, alive.
Tired but, surely, revived.
”
”
Mitta Xinindlu
“
The problem, Augustine came to believe, is that if you think you can organize your own salvation you are magnifying the very sin that keeps you from it. To believe that you can be captain of your own life is to suffer the sin of pride. What is pride? These days the word “pride” has positive connotations. It means feeling good about yourself and the things associated with you. When we use it negatively, we think of the arrogant person, someone who is puffed up and egotistical, boasting and strutting about. But that is not really the core of pride. That is just one way the disease of pride presents itself. By another definition, pride is building your happiness around your accomplishments, using your work as the measure of your worth. It is believing that you can arrive at fulfillment on your own, driven by your own individual efforts. Pride can come in bloated form. This is the puffed-up Donald Trump style of pride. This person wants people to see visible proof of his superiority. He wants to be on the VIP list. In conversation, he boasts, he brags. He needs to see his superiority reflected in other people’s eyes. He believes that this feeling of superiority will eventually bring him peace. That version is familiar. But there are other proud people who have low self-esteem. They feel they haven’t lived up to their potential. They feel unworthy. They want to hide and disappear, to fade into the background and nurse their own hurts. We don’t associate them with pride, but they are still, at root, suffering from the same disease. They are still yoking happiness to accomplishment; it’s just that they are giving themselves a D– rather than an A+. They tend to be just as solipsistic, and in their own way as self-centered, only in a self-pitying and isolating way rather than in an assertive and bragging way. One key paradox of pride is that it often combines extreme self-confidence with extreme anxiety. The proud person often appears self-sufficient and egotistical but is really touchy and unstable. The proud person tries to establish self-worth by winning a great reputation, but of course this makes him utterly dependent on the gossipy and unstable crowd for his own identity. The proud person is competitive. But there are always other people who might do better. The most ruthlessly competitive person in the contest sets the standard that all else must meet or get left behind. Everybody else has to be just as monomaniacally driven to success. One can never be secure. As Dante put it, the “ardor to outshine / Burned in my bosom with a kind of rage.” Hungry for exaltation, the proud person has a tendency to make himself ridiculous. Proud people have an amazing tendency to turn themselves into buffoons, with a comb-over that fools nobody, with golden bathroom fixtures that impress nobody, with name-dropping stories that inspire nobody. Every proud man, Augustine writes, “heeds himself, and he who pleases himself seems great to himself. But he who pleases himself pleases a fool, for he himself is a fool when he is pleasing himself.”16 Pride, the minister and writer Tim Keller has observed, is unstable because other people are absentmindedly or intentionally treating the proud man’s ego with less reverence than he thinks it deserves. He continually finds that his feelings are hurt. He is perpetually putting up a front. The self-cultivator spends more energy trying to display the fact that he is happy—posting highlight reel Facebook photos and all the rest—than he does actually being happy. Augustine suddenly came to realize that the solution to his problem would come only after a transformation more fundamental than any he had previously entertained, a renunciation of the very idea that he could be the source of his own solution.
”
”
David Brooks (The Road to Character)
“
Her disillusionment with the business had intensified as the need to simplify her stories increased. Her original treatments for Blondie of the Follies and The Prizefighter and the Lady had much more complexity and many more characters than ever made it to the screen, and adapting The Good Earth had served as a nagging reminder of the inherent restraints of film. Frances found herself inspired by memories of Jack London, sitting on the veranda with her father as they extolled the virtues of drinking their liquor “neat,” and remembered his telling her that he went traveling to experience adventure, but “then come back to an unrelated environment and write. I seek one of nature’s hideouts, like this isolated Valley, then I see more clearly the scenes that are the most vivid in my memory.” So she arrived in Napa with the idea of writing the novel she started in her hospital bed with the backdrop of “the chaos, confusion, excitement and daily tidal changes” of the studios, but as she sat on the veranda at Aetna Springs, she knew she was still too close to her mixed feelings about the film business.48 As she walked the trails and passed the schoolhouse that had served the community for sixty years, she talked to the people who had lived there in seclusion for several generations and found their stories “similar to case histories recorded by Freud or Jung.” She concentrated on the women she saw carrying the burden in this community and all others and gave them a depth of emotion and detail. Her series of short stories was published under the title Valley People and critics praised it as a “heartbreak book” that would “never do for screen material.” It won the public plaudits of Dorothy Parker, Rupert Hughes, Joseph Hergesheimer, and other popular writers and Frances proudly viewed Valley People as “an honest book with no punches pulled” and “a tribute to my suffering sex.
”
”
Cari Beauchamp (Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood)
“
Dear Polar Night,
It seems like the darkness will never shed any light. It is like the night skies have layers of darkness when it comes to Kace and me. I mean, the sun isn’t rising at all in our life. The darkness has a way of making things difficult for us. We are supposed to sleep during the dark, but we are always awake because we have to always be on the lookout. Will the midnight sun rise? We will accept part of the sun disk. Just a little bit will be okay with us. They will be just enough light for us to see what’s next on our life’s path. However, selfishly we do not have a sunset or sunrise in our life. The clouds and the fog keep the sun isolated—how long do you think Kace and I will be able to endure such treatment? I hope one day the polar night will run its course, and the white nights will shed more than 24 hours of light. I know the sun will not be visible—that is okay. We will accept the white nights if we cannot have the sun. We would be more than happy to take whatever light is offered.
Wishing on Pinwheels and Dandelions until the break of dawn.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (Pinwheels and Dandelions)
“
People are always asking me—and every other writer I know—where story ideas come from. Where do you get your ideas, they ask; how do you ever manage to think them up? It’s certainly the hardest question in the world to answer, since stories originate in everyday happenings and emotions, and any writer who tried to answer such a question would find himself telling over, in some detail, the story of his life. Fiction uses so many small items, so many little gestures and remembered incidents and unforgettable faces, that trying to isolate any one inspiration for any one story is incredibly difficult, but basically, of course, the genesis of any fictional work has to be human experience. This translation of experience into fiction is not a mystic one. It is, I think, part recognition and part analysis. A bald description of an incident is hardly fiction, but the same incident, carefully taken apart, examined as to emotional and balanced structure, and then as carefully reassembled in the most effective form, slanted and polished and weighed, may very well be a short story.
”
”
Shirley Jackson (Come Along With Me)
“
Tegularius was a willful, moody person who refused to fit into his society. Every so often he would display the liveliness of his intellect. When highly stimulated he could be entrancing; his mordant wit sparkled and he overwhelmed everyone with the audacity and richness of his sometimes somber inspirations. But basically he was incurable, for he did not want to be cured; he cared nothing for co-ordination and a place in the scheme of things. He loved nothing but his freedom, his perpetual student status, and preferred spending his whole life as the unpredictable and obstinate loner, the gifted fool and nihilist, to following the path of subordination to the hierarchy and thus attaining peace. He cared nothing for peace, had no regard for the hierarchy, hardly minded reproof and isolation. Certainly he was a most inconvenient and indigestible component in a community whose idea was harmony and orderliness. But because of this very troublesomeness and indigestibility he was, in the midst of such a limpid and prearranged little world, a constant source of vital unrest, a reproach, an admonition and warning, a spur to new, bold, forbidden, intrepid ideas, an unruly, stubborn sheep in the herd. And, to our mind, this was the very reason his friend cherished him.
”
”
Hermann Hesse (The Glass Bead Game)
“
an unrestrained infatuation with ecstasy and other extraordinary phenomena developed. These experiences were thought of as something to be obtained at all costs. Among some noted but deceptive visionaries of the time was the stigmatic, María de Santo Domingo (1486-1524), known as the Beata of Piedrahita. Her monastery became a center of spirituality and high prayer; she herself wrote a book on prayer and contemplation. But soon the Master General of the Dominicans had to isolate her because of certain aberrations and prophetic revelations. No one in the order, with the exception of her confessor, was allowed to converse with her or administer the sacraments to her; nor was anyone allowed to speak about her prophecies, ecstasies, and raptures, except to the provincial. Another visionary, Magdalena de la Cruz, a Poor Clare with a reputation for holiness, severe fasts, and long vigils, also bearing the stigmata, let it be known that she no longer required any food except the consecrated Host in daily Communion. In an investigation by the Inquisition she confessed to being a secret devil worshiper. Inspired by two incubuses with whom she had made a pact, she became very skillful at all sorts of legerdemain. Through her success in fooling both bishops and kings, she brought the fear of being deceived to all of Spain.
”
”
Teresa de Ávila (The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Ávila, Vol. 1)
“
Byron’s diabolism, if indeed it deserves the name, was of a mixed type. He shared, to some extent, Shelley’s Promethean attitude, and the Romantic passion for Liberty; and this passion, which inspired his more political outbursts, combined with the image of himself as a man of action to bring about the Greek adventure. And his Promethean attitude merges into a Satanic (Miltonic) attitude. The romantic conception of Milton’s Satan is semi-Promethean, and also contemplates Pride as a virtue. It would be difficult to say whether Byron was a proud man, or a man who liked to pose as a proud man – the possibility of the two attitudes being combined in the same person does not make them any less dissimilar in the abstract. Byron was certainly a vain man, in quite simple ways:
I can’t complain, whose ancestors are there,
Erneis, Radulphus – eight-and-forty manors
(If that my memory doth not greatly err)
Were their reward for following Billy’s banners.
His sense of damnation was also mitigated by a touch of unreality: to a man so occupied with himself and with the figure he was cutting nothing outside could be altogether real. It is therefore impossible to make out of his diabolism anything coherent or rational. He was able to have it both ways, it seems; and to think of himself both as an individual isolated and superior to other men because of his own crimes, and as a naturally good and generous nature distorted by the crimes committed against it by others. It is this inconsistent creature that turns up as the Giaour, the Corsair, Lara, Manfred and Cain; only as Don Juan does he get nearer to the truth about himself. But in this strange composition of attitudes and beliefs the element that seems to me most real and deep is that of a perversion of the Calvinist faith of his mother’s ancestors.
”
”
T.S. Eliot (On Poetry and Poets)
“
If I am remembered for anything, I want it to be for this: that throughout my entire life, I was deeply sensitive. Sensitive to feelings, words and surroundings. Sensitive to people, places and things. The smallest of things make me emotional in this world. It could be a memory, a truthful face, or a flash of childhood; it could be the smile of a stranger or the openness of the sky. And throughout my life I saw it as an isolating difference. But in my maturity as a man I’ve discovered my sensitivity is a liberating gift. Because I feel deeply about things. I feel deeply about people. About doing right. About keeping my word. Seeing others achieve. Seeing loved ones grows. I am sensitive to the feelings of the less fortunate, the few, and those struggling. And whenever I get so angry about the world or how people treat each other, I burn bitterly and fierce. Yet, when that flame extinguishes what is left is what is greatest of me; the slow moving tide of my heart. That tide is kind. It is understanding. It is calm. And it is the central moving force in my soul and the rhythm that I am and that I always return to: my sensitivity. I’ve always been this way. Since I was a boy. Now I am a man and I don’t take anything less than pride in it. Because I have found that the tiniest of moments, memories, smiles, dreams and people can make the most emotional impact on me, and the lives of others. And what this brings me all back to is what I what I understand: I have found that I feel more, I care more, and I want people to be more. And that is why I have decided that I must love more. But if I’m remembered for anything — over my laugh, my love or my wonderous beautiful life, I want it to be for my sensitivity. And that I believe that true greatness in the depths of any man, woman or child, is a place of care, consideration and true sensitivity.
”
”
Drue Grit
“
He was a good, even a shining light as a Castalian to the extent that he had a many-sided mind, tirelessly active in scholarship as well as in the art of the Glass Bead Game, and enormously hard-working; but in character, in his attitude toward the hierarchy and the morality of the Order he was a very mediocre, not to say bad Castalian. The greatest of his vices was a persistent neglect of meditation, which he refused to take seriously. The purpose of meditation, after all, is adaptation of the individual to the hierarchy, and application in it might very well have cured him of his neurasthenia. For it infallibly helped him whenever, after a period of bad conduct, excessive excitement, or melancholia, his superiors disciplined him by prescribing strict meditation exercises under supervision. Even Knecht, kindly disposed and forgiving though he was, frequently had to resort to this measure.
There was no question about it: Tegularius was a willful, moody person who refused to fit into his society. Every so often he would display the liveliness of his intellect. When highly stimulated he could be entrancing; his mordant wit sparkled and he overwhelmed everyone with the audacity and richness of his sometimes somber inspirations. But basically he was incurable, for he did not want to be cured; he cared nothing for co-ordination and a place in the scheme of things. He loved nothing but his freedom, his perpetual student status, and preferred spending his whole life as the unpredictable and obstinate loner, the gifted fool and nihilist, to following the path of subordination to the hierarchy and thus attaining peace. He cared nothing for peace, had no regard for the hierarchy, hardly minded reproof and isolation. Certainly he was a most inconvenient and indigestible component in a community whose idea was harmony and orderliness. But because of this very troublesomeness and indigestiblity he was, in the midst of such a limpid and prearranged little world, a constant source of vital unrest, a reproach, an admonition and warning, a spur to new, bold, forbidden, intrepid ideas, an unruly, stubborn sheep in the herd. And, to our mind, this was the very reason his friend cherished him.
”
”
Hermann Hesse (The Glass Bead Game)
“
Although a youth culture was in evidence by the 1950s, the first obvious and dramatic manifestation of a culture generated by peer-orientation was the hippie counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. The Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan called it “the new tribalism of the Electric Age.” Hair and dress and music played a significant part in shaping this culture, but what defined it more than anything was its glorification of the peer attachment that gave rise to it. Friends took precedence over family. Physical contact and connection with peers were pursued; the brotherhood of the pop tribe was declared, as in the generation-based “Woodstock nation.” The peer group was the true home.
“Don't trust anyone over thirty” became the byword of youth who went far beyond a healthy critique of their elders to a militant rejection of tradition. The degeneration of that culture into alienation and drug use, on the one hand, and its co-optation for commercial purposes by the very mainstream institutions it was rebelling against were almost predictable. The wisdom of well-seasoned cultures has accumulated over hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. Healthy cultures also contain rituals and customs and ways of doing things that protect us from ourselves and safeguard values important to human life, even when we are not conscious of what such values are.
An evolved culture needs to have some art and music that one can grow into, symbols that convey deeper meanings to existence and models that inspire greatness. Most important of all, a culture must protect its essence and its ability to reproduce itself — the attachment of children to their parents. The culture generated by peer orientation contains no wisdom, does not protect its members from themselves, creates only fleeting fads, and worships idols hollow of value or meaning. It symbolizes only the undeveloped ego of callow youth and destroys child-parent attachments.
We may observe the cheapening of cultural values with each new peer-oriented generation. For all its self-delusion and smug isolation from the adult world, the Woodstock “tribe” still embraced universal values of peace, freedom, and brotherhood. Today's mass musical gatherings are about little more than style, ego, tribal exuberance, and dollars.
”
”
Gabor Maté (Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers)
“
Ultimately then, as one gets ready for kundalini awakening, the goal is to help those chakras clear, open, and align. Kundalini will respond with the greatest ease of motion accomplished and will demonstrate how well it knows what to do. As you begin to work through these chakras blockages or energetic reversals, you may find that those struggles look something like this. Blockages for the root chakra may look like low energy, general fear, persistent exhaustion, identity crisis, feeling isolated from the environment, eating disorders, general lack or erratic appetite, blatant materialism, difficulty saving money, or overall constant health problems. For the sacral chakra, blockages or reversals may look like lack of creativity, lack of inspiration, low or no motivation, low or no sexual appetite, feelings of insignificance, feelings of being unloved, feelings of being unaccepted, feelings of being outcasted, inability to care for oneself or persistent and recurrent problems of relationship with one's intimate partners. Blockages may look like identity crises or deficits for the solar plexus chakra, low self-esteem, low or no self-esteem, digestive problems, food intolerance, poor motivation, persistent weakness, constant nausea, anxiety disorders, liver disorder or disease, repeated illnesses, loss of core strength, lack of overall energy, recurrent depression with little relief, feelings of betrayal, For the chakra of the heart, reversals and blockages may seem like the inability to love oneself or others, the inability to put others first, the inability to put oneself first, the inability to overcome a problem ex, constant grudges, confidence issues, social anxiety or intense shyness, the failure to express emotions in a healthy way, problems of commitment, constant procrastination, intense anxiety For the throat chakra, blockages might seem like oversharing, inability to speak truthfully, failure to communicate with others, severe laryngitis, sore throats, respiratory or airway constraints, asthma, anemia, excessive exhaustion, inability to find the right words, paralyzing fear of confusion, nervousness in public situations, sometimes extreme dizziness, physical submissiveness, verba. For the third eye chakra, blockages or reversals might seem like a lack of direction in life, increasingly intense feelings of boredom or stagnation, migraines, insomnia, eye or vision problems, depression, high blood pressure, inability to remember one's dreams, constant and jarring flashbacks, closed-mindedness, fear, history of mental disorders, and history of addiction. For the crown chakra, blockages may look like feelings of envy, extreme sadness, need for superiority over others, self-destructive behaviors, history of addiction, generally harmful habits, dissociations from the physical plane, inability to make even the easiest decisions, persistent exhaustion, terrible migraines, hair loss, anemia, cerebral confusion, poor mental control, lack of intellect.
”
”
Adrian Satyam (Energy Healing: 6 in 1: Medicine for Body, Mind and Spirit. An extraordinary guide to Chakra and Quantum Healing, Kundalini and Third Eye Awakening, Reiki and Meditation and Mindfulness.)
“
Now, with all seven of these chakras revolving in the right direction with no blockages whatsoever, your kundalini would not be able to help itself from rising into that state of bliss, which it perceives above. Ultimately then, as one gets ready for kundalini awakening, the goal is to help those chakras clear, open, and align. Kundalini will respond with the greatest ease of motion accomplished and will demonstrate how well it knows what to do. As you begin to work through these chakras blockages or energetic reversals, you may find that those struggles look something like this. Blockages for the root chakra may look like low energy, general fear, persistent exhaustion, identity crisis, feeling isolated from the environment, eating disorders, general lack or erratic appetite, blatant materialism, difficulty saving money, or overall constant health problems. For the sacral chakra, blockages or reversals may look like lack of creativity, lack of inspiration, low or no motivation, low or no sexual appetite, feelings of insignificance, feelings of being unloved, feelings of being unaccepted, feelings of being outcasted, inability to care for oneself or persistent and recurrent problems of relationship with one's intimate partners. Blockages may look like identity crises or deficits for the solar plexus chakra, low self-esteem, low or no self-esteem, digestive problems, food intolerance, poor motivation, persistent weakness, constant nausea, anxiety disorders, liver disorder or disease, repeated illnesses, loss of core strength, lack of overall energy, recurrent depression with little relief, feelings of betrayal, For the chakra of the heart, reversals and blockages may seem like the inability to love oneself or others, the inability to put others first, the inability to put oneself first, the inability to overcome a problem ex, constant grudges, confidence issues, social anxiety or intense shyness, the failure to express emotions in a healthy way, problems of commitment, constant procrastination, intense anxiety For the throat chakra, blockages might seem like oversharing, inability to speak truthfully, failure to communicate with others, severe laryngitis, sore throats, respiratory or airway constraints, asthma, anemia, excessive exhaustion, inability to find the right words, paralyzing fear of confusion, nervousness in public situations, sometimes extreme dizziness, physical submissiveness, verba. For the third eye chakra, blockages or reversals might seem like a lack of direction in life, increasingly intense feelings of boredom or stagnation, migraines, insomnia, eye or vision problems, depression, high blood pressure, inability to remember one's dreams, constant and jarring flashbacks, closed-mindedness, fear, history of mental disorders, and history of addiction. For the crown chakra, blockages may look like feelings of envy, extreme sadness, need for superiority over others, self-destructive behaviors, history of addiction, generally harmful habits, dissociations from the physical plane, inability to make even the easiest decisions, persistent exhaustion, terrible migraines, hair loss, anemia, cerebral confusion, poor mental control, lack of intellect.
”
”
Adrian Satyam (Energy Healing: 6 in 1: Medicine for Body, Mind and Spirit. An extraordinary guide to Chakra and Quantum Healing, Kundalini and Third Eye Awakening, Reiki and Meditation and Mindfulness.)
“
In the early 1680s, at just about the time that Edmond Halley and his friends Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke were settling down in a London coffee house and embarking on the casual wager that would result eventually in Isaac Newton’s Principia, Hemy Cavendish’s weighing of the Earth, and many of the other inspired and commendable undertakings that
have occupied us for much of the past four hundred pages, a rather less desirable milestone was being passed on the island of Mauritius, far out in the Indian Ocean some eight hundred miles off the east coast of Madagascar.
There, some forgotten sailor or sailor’s pet was harrying to death the last of the dodos, the famously flightless bird whose dim but trusting nature and lack of leggy zip made it a rather irresistible target for bored young tars on shore leave. Millions of years of peaceful isolation had not prepared it for the erratic and deeply unnerving behavior of human beings.
We don’t know precisely the circumstances, or even year, attending the last moments of the last dodo, so we don’t know which arrived first a
world that contained a Principia or one that had no dodos, but we do know that they happened at more or less the same time. You would be
hard pressed, I would submit to find a better pairing of occurrences to illustrate the divine and felonious nature of the human being-a species of organism that is capable of unpicking the deepest secrets of the heavens while at the same time pounding into extinction, for no purpose at all, a creature that never did us any harm and wasn’t even remotely capable of
understanding what we were doing to it as we did it. Indeed, dodos were so spectacularly short on insight it is reported, that if you wished to find
all the dodos in a vicinity you had only to catch one and set it to squawking, and all the others would waddle along to see what was up.
The indignities to the poor dodo didn’t end quite there. In 1755, some seventy years after the last dodo’s death, the director of the Ashmolean
Museum in Oxford decided that the institution’s stuffed dodo was becoming unpleasantly musty and ordered it tossed on a bonfire. This was a surprising decision as it was by this time the only dodo in existence, stuffed or otherwise. A passing employee, aghast tried to rescue the bird but could save only its head and part of one limb.
As a result of this and other departures from common sense, we are not now entirely sure what a living dodo was like. We possess much less information than most people suppose-a handful of crude descriptions by "unscientific voyagers, three or four oil paintings, and a few scattered osseous fragments," in the somewhat aggrieved words of the nineteenth century naturalist H. E. Strickland. As Strickland wistfully observed, we have more physical evidence of some ancient sea monsters and lumbering
saurapods than we do of a bird that lived into modern times and required nothing of us to survive except our absence.
So what is known of the dodo is this: it lived on Mauritius, was plump but not tasty, and was the biggest-ever member of the pigeon family,
though by quite what margin is unknown as its weight was never accurately recorded. Extrapolations from Strickland’s "osseous fragments" and the Ashmolean’s modest remains show that it was a little over two and a
half feet tall and about the same distance from beak tip to backside. Being flightless, it nested on the ground, leaving its eggs and chicks tragically easy prey for pigs, dogs, and monkeys brought to the island by outsiders. It was probably extinct by 1683 and was most certainly gone by 1693. Beyond that we know almost nothing except of course that we will not see its like again. We know nothing of its reproductive habits and diet, where it ranged, what sounds it made in tranquility or alarm. We don’t possess a single dodo egg.
From beginning to end our acquaintance with animate dodos lasted just seventy years.
”
”
Bill Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything)
“
During lock down, we are surely locked but not down. Stay inspired.
”
”
Dr.prem jagyasi
“
When two fixed points are projected in succession on a screen they are seen as two traces of a single movement in which they even lose their distinct existence. Here what happens is that the external forces insert themselves into a system of equivalents that is ready to function and in which they operate upon us, like signs in a language, not by arousing their uniquely correspondent significations but, like mileposts, in a process which is still unfolding, or as though they were picking out a path which, as it were, inspired them from a distance. Thus perception is already expression. But this natural language
does not isolate; it does not ''bring out" what is
expressed, but allows it to adhere in its own way more to the "perceptual chain" than to the "verbal
chain." When Gestalt theorists show that the perception of motion depends upon numerous figural moments and ultimately on the whole structure of the field, they are sketching in the same way as the perceiving subject a sort of thinking apparatus which is his incarnate and habitua! being. The accomplishment of motion and change of location emanate from a field structure apart from which they are unintelligible.
”
”
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Éloge de la philosophie (Collection Folio / Essais))
“
Before my eyes, I saw proof that success breeds success and, indeed, the rich do get richer. Their web of friends and associates was the most potent club the people I caddied for had in their bags. Poverty, I realized, wasn't only a lack of financial resources; it was isolation from the kind of people who could help you make more of yourself.
”
”
Keith Ferazzi
“
-isolated instances of beauty and in no urgent need of beholders.
”
”
Tim Cahill (Hold the Enlightenment)
“
I’ve also learned that inspiration gets fed by isolation, away from the ceaseless digital diversion and mindless overcommunication that dominates the hours of the majority these days.
”
”
Robin Sharma (The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life)
“
You help everyone through the darkness
and isolation. You help them through it all.
You will always have the great memories of yourself. You are someone special and everyone want to be like you because you have touched
their hearts in so many different ways. Everyone look up to you and they see the ray of sunshine shining over them. Everyone knew that God sent them one of his angels when he sent you to them. You help everyone through the darkness and isolation. You help them through it all. You were their savior. You went to save them everytime they fall. If everyone could say few words that wouldn't be enough for your grace and mercy."
- Shwin J Brad
”
”
Kenty Rosse (Mindfulness and stress relief)
“
Your life unfolds the mysteries of everyone
and the way they live. Life is all about balance and dignity. Everyone remembers the injuries, sadness, darkness, isolation, terror and their
sacrifices. You have lived the lifetime and you have learned about life and this world where
everyone lives in. You have found that the world is filled with both good and the bad. There are takers and givers. Takers takes everything from others while givers gives everyone everything without hesitation and regrets. Your life unfolds the mysteries of everyone and the way they live. Life is all about
balance and dignity. The truth is there will be times when we have to endure some unbearable days, sleepless nights and our anger and unpredictable woes."
- Shwin J Brad
”
”
Kenty Rosse (Mindfulness and stress relief)
“
Il mio desiderio è fuggire. Fuggire da ciò che conosco, fuggire da ciò che è mio, fuggire da ciò che amo. Desidero partire; non verso Indie impossibili o verso le grandi isole a sud di tutto, ma verso un luogo qualsiasi, un villaggio o un eremo, che abbia in sé la virtù di non essere questo luogo. Voglio non vedere più queste facce, queste abitudini e questi giorni. Voglio riposare da estraneo dalla mia finzione organica. Voglio sentire arrivare il sonno come vita, non come riposo. Una capanna in riva al mare, perfino una grotta sul fianco rugoso di una montagna può darmi questo.
[318. 1931]
”
”
Fernando Pessoa (Il libro dell'inquietudine di Bernardo Soares)
“
There is the sorrow of disease, there is the sorrow that man feels in complete isolation. There is the sorrow of poverty when you see all these poor, ignorant, dirty, hopeless people. There is sorrow when you see all the animals of the world being killed, destroyed, butchered in laboratories.
”
”
J. Krishnamurti (The Real Crisis)
“
Once you know who you are, you need not fear being misunderstood, or isolated, or bullied. You won’t care whether others respect you, because you know who you are.
”
”
Shawn Davis (The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions)
“
We live as emotional transients in a world of isolation. Oh, if I could only borrow back so many wasted moments, but only the arrogant have no regrets; so much is paid for with borrowed time.
The infant road,
the child’s path,
in the rising tide of the day,
is the aged road
the dying path,
in the dusk where mortals play.
”
”
Craig Froman (An owl on the moon: A journal from the edge of darkness)
“
Busy street of emotions
On a languid Sunday afternoon on the busy street,
Everything everywhere appeared to be missing a beat,
Few of their desires, of their hopes, many of their own dreams,
And in midst of all this I could hear strange screams,
There was rush, there was movement, there was life in its busiest state,
Many loved to be a part of it whereas a few showed all signs of hate,
They were the ones who were not chasing life, they were after something different,
That the busy street did not offer, and to the most people caught in its glamour it nothing meant,
To me all appeared to be seeking the same illusive something,
A thing that is born of nothing, and to a few it means everything,
That something, about which I had no clue, but the busy street certainly knew about it,
It knew everything about it,
But it had concealed it from all, happy and sad alike,
For now it had kept everyone busy pursuing what he/she liked, and what next he/she would like,
It was then she appeared in the busiest corner of the street,
Where people crossed each other; but noone nobody did ever meet,
They all saw other people's eyes but not what their eyes could see,
All were in this maze of fascinations where they had been before, but there they again and again wished to be,
And then she got up and left this busy corner,
And whispered in my ear, “let me show you a life that is real and livelier!”
I followed her wherever she went,
And that is how my Sunday was spent,
Finally as the evening set in and people began to feel weary,
And life too seemed dreary,
I looked at the once busy street that was now empty and desolate,
“This is the fact of life, and this is what you shall be able to isolate!”
With these last words she disappeared,
And now on the street, only I and my infinite avatars appeared,
Everywhere, in everything, and the street got busy again,
Because now I was dealing with life in its reality: joy, sorrow, love, faith, defection, everything and even pain,
So whenever you visit this busy street, walk towards everything with every feeling,
Because in our lives we all are either with retreating joy or with an advancing pain dealing!
”
”
Javid Ahmad Tak (They Loved in 2075!)
“
I saw nothing- but darkness. Say- I am
crazy also, I do not care!
I would lie all the time to others, I
would lie about my name, I would lie about where I lived, I would lie about being stocked, and
Isolated in school I was a liar. I should have never
been born; me being born like everyone else was a
lie too.
I know that now, but I did not back
then.
I - Jaylynn liked to be part of the
softball team.
I - Jaylynn liked to dance and sing.
I - Jaylynn loves picking flowers in
spring.
I - Jaylynn also remembers the words
that would sting.
I - Jaylynn wanted a fling.
I - Jaylynn wanted everything and had
nothing.
I - Jaylynn is who I was, you know I
was nothing inspiring. As a young girl, I all was
like taking things apart, yet I could not always get
them back together.
”
”
Marcel Ray Duriez
“
An uplifting story of a middle-aged woman overcoming fear and self-doubts to find adventure, love, and family.
Forced into early retirement, Bennett Hall plans for a quiet, orderly, and anonymous existence. No longer will she be burdened by her dependent but unlovable aunt, or her own misperceived rejections.
Unexpected encounters and a new job crack open her social isolation. The arrival of Joe Muir, an attractive widower, and his two adopted Ugandan children, awaken Bennett’s long-ignored desires--and self-doubts.
Inspired to win Joe’s love she flies to Uganda in search of the children’s missing sister. To overcome the dangers and challenges she confronts, she must find the courage she has always lacked.
”
”
Irene Wittig
“
In 1383, the authorities in Marseille extended the isolation period to forty days, giving the quarantine its name. (The duration was a biblical touch, inspired by the forty days and forty nights of the flood in Genesis, the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness, and the forty days of Lent.)
”
”
Niall Ferguson (Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe)
“
During my time here, I learnt that one could not escape the secular world anymore than one could escape the web of karma that one had sown. True enlightenment comes not from isolation but immersion. The monks in the temples never really abandoned the world. Their doors were always open, and they took up arms when necessary as they had demonstrated countless times before. Their severance with attachment was to connect them with greater compassion, a higher love.
”
”
J. Lam (Snow at Heaven's Edge: A Tale from the Carefree Swordsman Saga)
“
Halfway through the day, Megan started dicking around on the internet. She
made her browser window as small as she could, paused for a second, and then
looked up “Carrie Wilkins.” She found Carrie’s website, and on it, this bio:
Hi, my name’s Carrie. I’m 26. I make things. I paint and I write, but mostly I
design. I like to make things beautiful, or creative. I make my own food and I’m
trying to grow my own beets. A lot of people around me seem unhappy and I
don’t understand why. I freelance because I know I’d go insane if I couldn’t
make my own schedule—I believe variety is the zest of life. I know I want a dog
someday soon, and sometimes I make lunch at 3 a.m.
I believe in the power of collaboration, and I’d love to work with you!
What a total asshole. What does she have, some kind of a pact with Satan?
The picture next to Carrie’s bio had some kind of heavy filter on it that made
it look vintage, and she had a friendly but aloof look on her face. She was
flanked on both sides by plants and was wearing an oxford shirt with fancy
shorts and had a cool necklace. It was an outfit, for sure, like all of Carrie’s
clothes were outfits, which Megan always thought of as outdated or something
only children did.
The website linked to a blog, which was mostly photos of Carrie doing
different things. It didn’t take too long to find the picture of her with the llama
with a caption about how she and her boss got it from a homeless guy.
And then just products. Pictures and pictures of products, and then little
captions about how the products inspired her.
Motherfucker, thought Megan. She doesn’t get it at all. It was like looking at
an ad for deodorant or laundry soap that made you feel smelly and like you’d
been doing something wrong that the person in the ad had already figured out,
but since it was an ad, there was no real way to smell the person and judge for
yourself whether or not the person stank, and that was what she hated, hated,
hated most of all.
I make things, gee-wow. You think you’re an artist? Do you really thing this
blog is a representation of art, that great universalizer? That great transmigrator?
This isolating schlock that makes me feel like I have to buy into you and your
formula for happiness? Work as a freelance designer, grow beets, travel, have
lots of people who like you, and above all have funsies!
“Everything okay?” asked Jillian.
“Yeah, what?”
“Breathing kind of heavy over there, just making sure you were okay and
everything.”
“Oh, uh-huh, I’m fine,” said Megan.
“It’s not . . . something I’m doing, is it?”
“What? No. No, I’m fine,” said Megan.
How could someone not understand that other people could be unhappy?
What kind of callous, horrible bullshit was that to say to a bunch of twenty-yearolds, particularly, when this was the time in life when things were even more
acutely painful than they were in high school, that nightmare fuck, because now
there were actual stakes and everyone was coming to grips with the fact that
they’re going to die and that life might be empty and unrewarding. Why even
bring it up? Why even make it part of your mini-bio?
”
”
Halle Butler (Jillian)
“
A witnessing of shameless peculiarity in a vicarious identity, that inspires severe depreciation to the security subsequently lowering all misplaced confidence, triggered in isolated humbled observers", conclusively it is called "crazy".
”
”
Phirstin Line
“
When stuck in bad anxiety, this activation can trigger a host of feelings: nervousness, fear, discomfort, pain—the negative emotions that pull down our moods, distract us, and make us withdraw and isolate ourselves. On the other side of these negative emotions are the wonderful, uplifting positive emotions: joy, love, humor, excitement, curiosity, wonder, gratitude, serenity, inspiration—the list goes on and on. These positive feelings drive our connection to ourselves and others; they ward off illness and keep us healthy by strengthening our immune system; they reward enjoyment and pleasurable behaviors so that we will continue to seek them out.
”
”
Wendy Suzuki (Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion)
“
It calls for a new way of being, one that embraces the full spectrum of human experience, from triumph to failure, from joy to sorrow. It invites us to see ourselves not as isolated individuals battling against the world but as interconnected beings, capable of compassion, creativity, and transformation.
”
”
Ronald Duren Jr. (The Art of Forging Mettle: A Blueprint for the Evolution of Mental Toughness and Leadership for a Shifting World)
“
One of the things that was destroyed when we crashed into the mountain was our connection to society. But our ties to one another grew stronger every day. What we did was stabilize the injury and stitch together new ties made of metal and glass, of strength and sensitivity, of intelligence and emotion, to protect us as a group and not as isolated individuals. We survived together, like separate organs working together to save the body as a whole.
”
”
Roberto Canessa (I Had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives)
“
Stoicism does not mean continued solitude or isolation, but it emphasises the importance of flexibility in different circumstances.
”
”
Mwanandeke Kindembo
“
Le service militaire réunit matériellement les hommes et crée une unité apparente autour d'un critère précis : avoir un pénis "qui fonctionne". Basé sur une idéologie patriotique valorisée par les familles, il rassemble ceux qui ont le "pouvoir de baiser" pour former le corps principal de la nation. Il donne l'image d'une piscine dans laquelle des hommes, se situant à différents niveaux de la hiérarchie sociale et issus de milieux culturels très divers, nagent maladroitement, mais tous ensemble. Sortir de cette piscine est impossible, tout comme fermer les yeux, s'arrêter ou s'isoler. Les hommes restent, continuant à nager sans savoir pourquoi. Pourtant, d'autres gardent en mémoire l'image d'un chaudron plutôt que celle d'une piscine. Cuire ensemble est un processus de co-construction.
”
”
Pınar Selek (Le chaudron militaire turc : Un exemple de production de la violence masculine)
“
What is our North Star? Why do we exist? Can we clearly articulate why the world is better with our organization in it? What difference do we make? How can people help? How are our founding values specifically relevant to the world today? Who are they relevant to? What headlines do we want to be written about us in the future? What are some characteristics, beliefs, values, and passions that are common to our customers? Are those same characteristics common to our employees? How does that impact the character of the company and why people love us? Are our employees part of our community? Would they lead it? Is our company mission statement the same as our purpose? Why or why not? Is there a seed of an idea there? How is the world changing in a way that unites us with our community? Why do our customers buy our products? Is it because of a shared belief or value system? Do our customers share a vision of the world? What would our future look like if customers helped us build it? How could a community serve and inspire our customers in a way we’re not offering today? Are there people we care about who feel isolated and could benefit from a community? What’s a problem we can only solve together through community? How would a community help us practice what we preach? Whose dreams are we fulfilling?
”
”
Mark W. Schaefer (Belonging to the Brand: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy)
“
To me, this seems tragic. And this is not an isolated case. In my work, the volume discarded by younger sisters is always greater than the volume discarded by older sisters, a phenomenon surely related to the fact that younger children are often accustomed to wearing hand-me-downs. There are two reasons why younger sisters tend to collect clothes they don’t really like. One is that it’s hard to get rid of something received from family. The other is that they don’t really know what they like, which makes it hard to decide whether they should part with it. Because they receive so much clothing from others, they don’t really need to shop and therefore they have less opportunity to develop the instinct for what really inspires joy.
”
”
Marie Kondō (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Magic Cleaning #1))
“
Ainsi posée, l'équation économique du vieillissement inspire invariablement quatre types de mesures publiques possibles.
1. L'allongement de la période de travail au cours d'une vie. Déjà en Espagne, au Japon ou en Allemagne, on prévoit de reporter l'âge légal du départ à la retraite au-delà de 65 ans pour modifier, même provisoirement, le rapport de dépendance démographique.
2. La hausse de la contribution de l'ensemble de la population à la vie économique du pays, par exemple en facilitant la combinaison de l'activité professionnelle et de la vie familiale des femmes pour les inciter à travailler. De la même façon, les mesures d'encouragement au vieillissement actif des seniors doivent leur permettre de diversifier leurs sources de revenus. Surtout qu'en plus d'alléger les budgets publics, on constate qu'une activité même limité réduit les risques de précarisation et d'isolement des personnes âgées, notamment des femmes, plus facilement exposées à la détérioration de leur état de santé et de leur situation économique.
3. La diminution du coût de certaines prestations, comme la prise en charge des maladies de longue durée, grâce à la mise en place de politiques de prévention systématiques des maladies non transmissibles et dégénératives.
4. Le recours à la migration de travail pour étendre la main-d'œuvre, accroître le volume des prélèvements de solidarité tout en comblant certains besoins du marché du travail. (p. 44)
”
”
Virginie Raisson (2038: The World's Futures)
“
Clinging to our ideas of perfection isolates us from life and is a barrier.
”
”
Sharon Salzberg (Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection)
“
The costs of keeping secrets include our growing isolation due to fear of detection and the ways we shut down inside to avoid feeling the effects of our behavior. We can never afford to be truly seen and known—even by ourselves.
”
”
Sharon Salzberg (Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection)
“
Communication is the continuation of business by other means. The business objective (or in the case of government or not-for-profit, the organizational objective) is the overriding goal, and communication is merely one of the means of achieving it. And means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes.
”
”
Helio Fred Garcia (The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively)
“
It's impossible to exceed, outnumber, outperform or isolate an infinite, all-knowing, omniscient God.
”
”
Maisie A Smikle
“
It is from this beautiful, feral place that we are able to respond to the breath of inspiration that summons us to the fullness of our creativity. Full, because we are cognizant that we are not a lone pair of hands or a single voice, that we do not create in isolation but bring our gift, the art of our lives, to one another, to the earth. We each touch the seven starlings closest to us in our own murmuration, and the ripple spreads faster than we could have imagined..
”
”
Lyanda Lynn Haupt (Mozart's Starling)
“
Sometimes standing for truth is painful and an isolated journey because truth is not always what we like to hear and live with. However, it is your belief in the purity of truth, your confidence in yourself and your godly values that will give you the strength to be a torchbearer of truth. With truth you are always a winner even if it comes late or with a price to pay.
”
”
Vishwas Chavan (VishwaSutras: Universal Principles For Living: Inspired by Real-Life Experiences)
“
This certainly wasn’t an isolated incident, but it is indicative of Jesus’ ferocious ambition to walk with His Father by trusting in Him to overcome temptation. For Jesus, just as it is for us, prayer and vigorous fighting are the means to overcome temptation. Jesus’ manhood in this particular instance is awe inspiring; He fought against the greatest temptation imaginable, in regard to His most challenging responsibility, and yet didn’t drop the ball:
”
”
Eric Mason (Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole)
“
It is ashamed that history isolates things that are common to a large populace, but families don’t disperse generational history to prevent their descendants from falling in the same traps as they had.
”
”
Stephen and Tiffany Domena
“
IThe epiphany in this thought is that we simply cannot and do not create in isolation. As I paint my blank canvas others leave their mark on my masterpiece. Many have added colors and textures I knew not existed, greatly improving my creation..and yet...and yet... There are those who have punctured the fine leather and scraped at the rainbows of my mind ... creating stormy patches where there were once colors beaming from the page.
”
”
Bella Vespira
“
The epiphany in this thought is that we simply cannot and do not create in isolation. As I paint my blank canvas others leave their mark on my masterpiece. Many have added colors and textures I knew not existed, greatly improving my creation..and yet...and yet... There are those who have punctured the fine leather and scraped at the rainbows of my mind ... creating stormy patches where there were once colors beaming from the page.
”
”
Bella Vespira
“
You cannot offer quality experiences as an isolated island. Learn to work well with others on the success train. Respect those you work with and appreciate their contribution in making you the best at what you do.
”
”
Archibald Marwizi (Making Success Deliberate)
“
With a large enough number, a single digit will not have any impact. It's when you isolate the numbers, set them apart, that they become important on their own.
”
”
Keirsten White
“
pulling focus away from a particular problem (and, instead, looking at the environment around it) can lead to better solutions. When we give notes on Pixar movies and isolate a scene, say, that isn’t working, we have learned that fixing that scene usually requires making changes somewhere else in the film, and that is where our attention should go. Our filmmakers have become skilled at not getting caught up in a problem but instead looking elsewhere in the story for solutions.
”
”
Ed Catmull (Creativity, Inc.: an inspiring look at how creativity can - and should - be harnessed for business success by the founder of Pixar)
“
When you’ve spent the better part of your life considering yourself a freak with burnt-out synapses in place of social skills, finding a sibling soul inspires a readjustment of ego.
”
”
Anish Majumdar (The Isolation Door)
“
Success is a habit not an isolated event. Be passionate about success to cultivate it.
”
”
Debasish Mridha
“
Loneliness is not the perception of leading an isolated life, but it is an inability to get any caring eyes, especially when you want someone to care for you. It is also sense of being lost, even empty you from inside. When you burst into crying, you realise that the whole world is sleeping peacefully with both eyes and ears closed.
”
”
Bibhu Datta Rout (Wheels Of Wish)
“
Music does not isolate you, it surrounds you.
”
”
Julian Stancu
“
Turning things over and over in isolation had led me to a certain point, but I knew that to get any further I'd have to voice some ideas aloud, just to see how they sounded. But I certainly didn't go to Ellie expecting any kind of constructive input on her part. It was more that I'd hit a wall and needed someone to talk around the subject with - like when you come up against a problem that's just immune to normal logic.
”
”
Gavin Extence
“
Part 1. My Life Story.
- If I can do it, so can you-
I was born and lived in one of the most oldest and most beautiful cities in Albania. for 23 years I lived under the communist regime, where everyone was poor, there was no rich people beside the Elite group who dictate the country. Since I was little girl I dreamed of fairy tale life. But for some reason no one was supportive of my dreams. It looked like they were enjoying watching us living in poverty and keep our heads down, for instance I remember when I was in 5th grade I told my literature teacher "When I get older I want to be a beautician." With a smire on her face she said "You are going to be just like your mother, keep having kids in a row" At that time I did not understood what she meant, but I did not expected that answer from an "educated" person, especially your teacher. As I got older I started to isolate myself from all the negative people until one day I asked my uncle to help me to get in a beauty college, he knew people in town that's why, I did not wanted to believe he respond. Even today I can hear his words whisper in my ears, telling me "Beauty college is not for poor children, education is only for rich kids" But that did not stopped me either, I told myself "No one can tell me what I can and can't do" They just motivated me to prove them wrong. Poor children can go to college. So I decided to make a very big move my that would either end it my life or could change my life for ever. Sep 2, 1990 I had it enough of that hell place, communist regime and all the negative people.I decided to leave everyone behind me and move forward in life, I decided to escape the communist and followed my dreams. I was also escaped from army who was chasing to kill us, but mighty God was with us. We made the local news saying "Two young girls were killed today by army forces escaping the borders" but I made it alive to Yugoslavia, I spend almost seven months there in concentration camp. There I meet the love of my life also, we dated for five months, until his visa was approved to come in US, two months later I come to state on March of 1991. New place, new chapter in my life, two weeks later got united, neither of us spoke English, it was very hard to find jobs, we manage to get a job in a local restaurant as a dishwasher and me as a bustable, at that time I was very I found a happy, so I did it with smile on my face. We were living at my husband's cousins unfinished basement. Yes we were sharing a single / twin size bed, we had to saved money so we can get our own apartment, we had nothing insite site. I remember when the manager showed us the appartment, it was green shaggy carpet, I told my husband. "Honey the carpet is thick enough, we don't need mattress to sleep on it, we can sleep on the carpet" later on a co-worker give us some household stuff to start our life with. Later that year our 1st child /daughter was born, two months later we get married in a local Albania church. Life was getting way better than living under the communist regime, later on we have two more children. We decided to bring my parents here so they can help us, I can get back to work or go to school . On April 1, 1998 my father come, we picked him at airport, with tears on his eye he was looking the street lights outside of the car window and said, "America is beautiful country, is land of dreams,....when I die please bury me here and not in Albania" By that time have I learning enough English to continued my education. I went to beauty school. two years later I graduated and got the state license. Yahhhh my dreams start coming true, remember I told you I always wanted to be a beautician. I found a job in a local salon, couple months later I was promoted to a salon manager. I did it for me and not for them who did not believed on me, As I said " I never cared
”
”
Zybejta (Beta) Metani' Marashi
“
We can share hope with others.
It's a powerful pillar in my life. In other words: Hope is not merely one person's dream in isolation. From the very beginning of human life on earth, hope has been a currency we can give and receive.
”
”
Howard Brown
“
[Comedy uses] The same principle that caricature artists employ when making their drawings. They isolate a few features and distort them to false prominence.
”
”
Gene Perret (The New Comedy Writing Step by Step: Revised and Updated with Words of Instruction, Encouragement, and Inspiration from Legends of the Comedy Profession)
“
Commom Sense" has more to do with a sense pertaining to the common good of the whole than just isolated logic... for, what "logic" then do we speak of?
”
”
L.C. Reig
“
Retirement can be the loneliest period in life. It is a period in which one suddenly feels irrelevant and like an outcast. Many people only exist insofar as their connection to or validation through their work. Millions of Americans, for the sake of making living, they cannot even afford nurturing relationships with family and friends. Their work schedules keep them totally isolated and lonely. By the time they retire, it suddenly dawns on them that they almost have nobody left now that their coworkers are history.
”
”
Louis Yako
“
In isolation, we assume we are in it alone. In connection, we find support, commonality, and companionship.
”
”
Stephanie Meriaux (Navigating Divorce with a Peaceful Heart: A Practical Guide to Cultivating Inner Peace in the Midst of Chaos)
“
The profound misapprehension of reality is what, more or less, constitutes the mental state we used to call “madness,” and when the world itself turns unrecognizable, appears to go “mad,” I find myself wondering what the effect is on those who never in the first place experienced a smooth relation between the phenomena of the world and their own minds. Who have always felt an explanatory gap. The schizophrenic. The disassociated…
I was left with the useless thoughts of a novelist: what is it like to have a mind-on-fire at such a moment? Do you feel ever more distant from the world? Or has the world, in its new extremity, finally come to you?
”
”
Zadie Smith (Intimations)
“
You should know that a period of isolation is often required before a massive breakthrough. You are here to shed layers, years, identities, relationships, and everything else that is keeping you writing the same old story. Allow it. Walk tall and walk alone, for as long as you need to. This is your becoming.
”
”
Brianna Wiest
“
Shared with Public
Your adoration soothes the hearts
Oh Beloved, Your light flows from my wounds while I taste the isolation in a sip of wine
Sip after sip I leave the shadow of your creation towards the Absolute Consciousness
”
”
Yahia El Haroui
“
Dans l'ensemble de l'aire culturelle méditerranéenne, et pas seulement en terre d'Islam, la femme est depuis longtemps soumise à l'ordre patriarcal et ne se définit que par rapport aux hommes. Au Maghreb, elle n'a pas d'existence propre et autonome, Fatima ne sera jamais Fatima. Elle est donc fille bint Mustapha (fille de), ou mère oum Mustapha (mère de) ou ekht Mustapha (sœur de), selon son lien de parenté avec l'homme Mustapha. Hors de ces catégories, point de salut pour les femmes dans la doxa salafiste. Or l'émancipation progressive par l'éducation des filles de familles immigrées dans les années 70 et 80 mène tout droit et rapidement à l'effacement de ce schéma ainsi qu'à des phénomènes de fusion culturelle ou même familiale et a fortiori matrimoniale qui mettraient en péril le contrôle des fondamentalistes sur leur masse de manœuvre. L'idée est donc de ramener les femmes à leur état de domination et de contrôle par les mâles eux-mêmes déjà en voie de séparatisme.
Difficile de faire appel à l'auctoritas patris. Dans les familles immigrées du Maghreb et du Sahel, les pères n'ont d'une façon générale qu'une autorité limitée. Ils sont parfois absents et souvent déconsidérés pour ne pas avoir trouvé dans la société d'accueil le statut et les revenus que la famille espérait. On ne peut guère compter sur eux pour ramener "dans le droit chemin" des filles qui leur ont déjà échappé par l'école. Les mères n'ayant pas voix au chapitre, c'est donc aux grands-frères qu'il incombera de faire sortir leurs sœurs et leurs femmes des chemins de l'intégration pour les isoler, les soustraire aux tentations modernistes occidentales impies et les placer sous la coupe des salafistes.
”
”
Alain Chouet (Sept pas vers l'enfer. Séparatisme islamique : les désarrois d'un officier de renseignement (French Edition))
“
Books kept the feelings of isolation and loneliness from crushing me. My father’s early death contributed to a lack of role models in my life. But inside books, I was able to find adults and teachers to guide me along.
”
”
Hideo Kojima (The Creative Gene: How books, movies, and music inspired the creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid)
“
We are not alone, tending the gardens of our lives in isolation. We are all connected. What we put out into the world determines what we get back and, ultimately, how we feel inside.
”
”
Joe Kelly (The Gandhiana Jones Project: An 8-Week Course in Becoming the Change You Want to See in the World)
“
Believe in Your Vision
because
Purpose and Mission
are led by Vision.”
~Sherrie Rose
”
”
Sherrie Rose (The Cocoon Conundrum: Breaking Out of Isolation into Liberation)
“
this guy had built an anti-Carl ideology and inspired a growing army of followers. I had even seen them in my comments, but I just ignored them like they were normal haters. But there’s a big difference between an isolated troll and a movement. This was a movement, and I had completely misidentified, or willfully ignored, it.
”
”
Hank Green (An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls, #1))
“
Cameron states in her quote that writers can control their writing abilities when they are in a good mood. It becomes something we can do as conveniently as picking up a hammer and pounding a nail instead of standing on a rock of isolation and begging the wind for inspiration. (Julia)
”
”
Diamond Jewels Doval (Ableism in Education)
“
A book is a gift you can open again and again." – Garrison Kellor
"Some books leave us free and some books make us free." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." – Charles W. Eliot
"A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors." – Charles Baudelaire
"There are some books that reached through the noise of life to grab you by the collar and speak only of the truest things." – Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot
"Books are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you." – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
"Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author's words reverberating in your head." – Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one." – George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
"Reading is an active, imaginative act; it takes work." – Khaled Hosseini
"Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while." – Malorie Blackman
"That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong." – F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." – Frederick Douglass
"Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." – Jean Rhys
"We tell ourselves stories in order to live." – Joan Didion, The White Album
”
”
Multiple Authors
“
Isolation
Half remembered of my home and kites,
Last night, with a lonely sense of fight
Started again to rework my poor life
Rejection
Yielded with blossoms - No free blossoms
Swift to the glare and noise to the town
Boy, may your strength never die
”
”
Vincent Bozzino (Comfortable in the Chaos)
“
Living Isolation Life; You can Never Achieve a Solution to your Problem, but there comes a Moment that a Man face His Lonely Journey of Life. You are to pull Through an not to Dwell In.
By Frank O Chima.
”
”
Frank O Chima
“
Think of it like you are on an isolated island for so long and you woke up one day and saw an empty boat is leaving the island by the force of the wind. It is pushed away so fast by the wind. It is your only and last chance ever to leave this island. You know there are no more chances because you have been so long already on the island. You definitely will sprint toward it. You will use your full potentials swimming to catch it. Even if you do not know how to swim, you still will go for it if you want to leave this island. You will never think of a plan B. Your mind may tell you, "You either catch the boat or die". Finally, when you catch the boat you say to yourself "How did I do this! I never exhausted this amount of energy before! I never imagined this power comes out of me! In addition to many following wondrous questions, you ask yourself after. The answer to all these questions is simple. You focused ALL of what you HAVE on ONE goal. ONLY one GOAl. Only plan, A
”
”
Isaac Nash (The Herok)
“
And it was like her show of compassion, that one gesture...a woman making sure no one felt alone and isolated, was an invitation to the rest to join in. It was all it took for actual change to happen.
”
”
Kristen Terrette (See You Monday)
“
There is a mountain placed before us.
It's wide, big; high above the clouds.
With no way around it;
no choice about it.
Just to climb it,
even through low sighs.
Some mountains, we choose.
Often those that we pursue
are easy to climb.
They leave no bruise;
we step on them like crumbs.
No sweat, no fuse.
But also no valuable lesson.
Just an excuse after an excuse.
There are harsh sessions on the high mountain.
Hard lessons on the big mountain.
No breaks, no fountains.
Just hardships and rough times.
No awards, no rewards.
Just emotional, mental tides and fines.
Fine, we usually accept the challenge.
Out of options, we welcome the change.
An exchange of comfort for caution.
We become deranged for family.
For our children, friends, even lovers.
Some lovers who may become an enemy.
We become a destiny with no back covers.
With our back against the wall.
Our back totally exposed to all.
But, step by step,
day by day,
with our veins, we climb up but not in vain.
Some days we want to go back to our fortress.
Some days we only see black, no success.
But, after a while, mounting in grime,
we forget about the pain.
The hardships start to fade.
We start to familiarise the pain with the trees.
We accept the bushes and rocks as home.
We follow the footsteps of animals and bees;
looking for shortcuts to roam.
Seeking solace in the shade of what we see.
We seek and become one with isolation.
In isolation, we start to rely on ourselves more.
We learn to love all our sores;
to trust our own instincts.
We become stronger and sharper in senses.
And the stronger we become,
the faster we mount in fun.
In the end, we reach the top.
Out of it all,
we come out unbreakable, alive.
Tired but, surely, revived.
”
”
Mitta Xinindlu
“
Mindfulness is the state of mind when you appreciate others' perspectives while isolating your own.
”
”
Sukant Ratnakar (Quantraz)
“
Life is interconnected, and each dimension overlaps the other in a holographic and interwoven way. Nothing exists in isolation. Everything interpenetrates everything else.
”
”
Chris Hawke, Awakening Within
“
There is no way that isolated, authoritarian societies can advance very far in science. Science needs free exchange. Einstein said that “everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.
”
”
Fang Lizhi (The Most Wanted Man in China: My Journey from Scientist to Enemy of the State)
“
It is on the consciousness level of the heart that we begin to understand that we are not separated from life. We begin to understand that we are not small separate islands in a great ocean, but that life is one and that we all are small parts of the Whole. We begin to understand what is really important and meaningful in life. It is on the consciousness level of the heart that we begin to
understand that life is about sharing, rather than hoarding. We begin to understand that life is about giving, rather than taking.
Above the consciousness level of the heart, we need a teacher and a guide. It is somebody who “knows”, who has walked further on the path than us and who can
guide, encourage and inspire us. There is an Indian saying: “When the disciple is ready, the teacher occurs.
”
”
Swami Dhyan Giten (The Call of the Heart)
“
Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.
”
”
Ann Lamott
“
I release the shame, guilt, embarrassment and taboo or stigma that is attached to suffering from post-natal depression. I wear my war wounds proudly in hope that I can shine the light for those women and families who see no way out of the trenches. I speak out in hope of creating change in a condition that is widely misunderstood, to create opportunities for healing holistically and change the current model where women can get lost in the system, and can lose their lives battling this silent and very isolating dis-ease.
”
”
Namita Mahanama
“
I propose that at the core of our existence lies an intrinsic connection on an energetic level, suggesting that our purpose might be fundamentally tied to the exercise of free will. This free will presents us with a profound choice: to engage in meaningful connections that affirm our shared humanity, or to opt for isolation, which leads to a sense of existential emptiness. Perhaps, this dichotomy is the very essence of a cosmic test designed by our creator, challenging us to recognize and nurture our interconnectedness over separation.
”
”
Yvonne Padmos
“
In a paper published in 1950, the computer scientist Alan Turing suggested a legendary test for whether an AI exhibited human-level intelligence. When AI could display humanlike conversational abilities for a lengthy period of time, such that a human interlocutor couldn’t tell they were speaking to a machine, the test would be passed: the AI, conversationally akin to a human, deemed intelligent. For more than seven decades this simple test has been an inspiration for many young researchers entering the field of AI. Today, as the LaMDA-sentience saga illustrates, systems are already close to passing the Turing test. But, as many have pointed out, intelligence is about so much more than just language (or indeed any other single facet of intelligence taken in isolation). One particularly important dimension is in the ability to take actions. We don’t just care about what a machine can say; we also care about what it can do. What we would really like to know is, can I give an AI an ambiguous, open-ended, complex goal that requires interpretation, judgment, creativity, decision-making, and acting across multiple domains, over an extended time period, and then see the AI accomplish that goal? Put simply, passing a Modern Turing Test would involve something like the following: an AI being able to successfully act on the instruction “Go make $1 million on Amazon in a few months with just a $100,000 investment.” It might research the web to look at what’s trending, finding what’s hot and what’s not on Amazon Marketplace; generate a range of images and blueprints of possible products; send them to a drop-ship manufacturer it found on Alibaba; email back and forth to refine the requirements and agree on the contract; design a seller’s listing; and continually update marketing materials and product designs based on buyer feedback. Aside from the legal requirements of registering as a business on the marketplace and getting a bank account, all of this seems to me eminently doable. I think it will be done35 with a few minor human interventions within the next year, and probably fully autonomously within three to five years.
”
”
Mustafa Suleyman (The Coming Wave)
“
During this time of almost continuous despair, I often told Morrigan about my recurring fantasy: breaking up with her (or vice versa), quitting my job, moving to some cheap, shitty little one-room apartment in Mustamäe, staying isolated indoors for months on end, eating only canned beans, drinking copious amounts of red wine, talking to cockroaches, and slowly going insane—until one day, inspired by Philipp Mainländer, I’d build a pedestal out of copies of my novel and hang myself from the ceiling.
”
”
Keijo Kangur (Broken: Twenty Pieces)
“
When times get tough, and you are feeling isolated, remember that you are not alone.
”
”
Stacy A King
“
Pythagoras, in particular, was fascinated by the geometric proportions found throughout the natural world. Before Pythagoras, there is little evidence that musicians tuned their instruments using any particular system or scales. It's understood that Pythagoras experimented with a monochord, a single-stringed instrument with a moving bridge, to identify the way that plucking a string of various lengths creates particular musical notes. The proportions that he identified to be most harmonious happened to match the proportions of animal and plant growth (which we'll investigate later in this book). His observations were the foundation of the Western scale of music. This is a great example of isolating natural elements and combining them into a new art from. So magical seeming were his discoveries to conservative authorities that he feared for his life and started a secret society to study nature's mysteries more deeply.
”
”
Jay Harman (The Shark's Paintbrush: Biomimicry and How Nature is Inspiring Innovation)
“
God’s plan for His Kingdom is not individualistic autonomy. Isolation is inspired from a far darker realm. It is the genius of the Body working interdependently that propels unstoppably the great purposes of the Kingdom.
”
”
Jeff Christopherson (The Kingdom Matrix: Designing a Church for the Kingdom of God)
“
Therefore we have to watch carefully to see if Obama is actually doing these things. Of course, those who have no clue about his ideology will always seek to explain his actions another way. Liberals in general view Obama as toeing the liberal line, or compromising away from it, even when many of Obama’s actions fit neither characterization. Conservatives in general view Obama as a bungler: he doesn’t understand that tax hikes don’t promote economic growth; he misses the fact that government control over banking, health care, energy, and other industries makes them less efficient; he is blind to the reality that Syria and Iran are not our friends; he cannot see how his actions are isolating Israel in the world; he is dangerously naive in reducing our nuclear weapons in the expectation that this will inspire Iran and North Korea to reduce theirs; and so on.
”
”
Dinesh D'Souza (Obama's America: Unmaking the American Dream)
“
Love is just a mask. All we search is a Comfort, Acceptance. Consolation. Affirmation. Assurance. Indulgence. Isolation. Absolution and Remission.
”
”
Sarvesh Jain
“
True rest is isolated balance and peace of existence through acceptance, submission and awareness of the present moment.
”
”
Michael Stagnitta (Soul Work: Illuminate Your Purpose & Uncover Your True Self)
“
I whispered to my mind self with my maddened joy—the precious feelings emitted from the furnace of solitude,and those steps I ever had searched since my isolation on this doomed Earth.
”
”
Nithin Purple (The Bell Ringing Woman: A Blue Bell of Inspiration)
“
As individuals and as leaders we need to embrace both emotional and strategic agility. The demands of our lives can create physical burnout and make us feel increasingly isolated and impoverished.
”
”
Mozella Ademiluyi (Rise!: Lean Within Your Inner Power & Wisdom™)
“
To understand how revolutionary Pasteur’s contributions were, consider the previously popular ideas that attempted to explain why people got sick. For nearly two thousand years, the medical profession believed that four different bodily fluids—blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile—dominated the health and moods of people. When they were in harmony, all was right with the world. When they were out of sync, people fell ill or into “bad humor.” The theory was known as humorism. Doctors were never quite certain what caused imbalance among these humors—ideas ranged from seasons to diet to evil spirits. So they experimented by trial and error to restore the necessary harmony of fluids—often with now seemingly barbaric methods such as bloodletting, which at the time was said to remedy hundreds of diseases. Sometimes, people got better. But most of the time, they got worse. And doctors were never sure why. By the nineteenth century, people began to blame disease on “miasmas” or “bad airs” that floated around dangerously. As hare-brained as it sounds today, “miasma theory” was actually an improvement over humorism because it spawned sanitary reforms that had the effect of removing real disease agents—bacteria. For example, in 1854, when cholera gripped London, the miasma explanation inspired massive, state-sponsored clearing of the air by draining cesspools. A physician of the time, John Snow, was able to isolate the pattern of new cholera cases and to conclude that new cases correlated to proximity to a specific water pump on Broad Street. Disease, he concluded, correlated with that pump—and therefore cholera was not transmitted through miasma, but likely through contaminated water. Snow’s work saved countless lives—and he has subsequently been recognized as one of the most important physicians in history. But while an improvement, Snow’s analysis still didn’t get to the root cause of what actually made those people sick.
”
”
Clayton M. Christensen (Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice – Christensen's Jobs Theory for Startups and Business Growth)
“
If I run, I might fall.
If I TRUST someone, I might get backstabbed.
If I LOVE someone, I might get hurt.
If I share my FEEDBACK, they might ridicule me or make fun of me.
If I eat outside food, I might fall sick.
If I disagree with someone, they might try to harm my child.
If I take a DIFFERENT DIRECTION in my life (without any precedent), I might fail.
If I DRIVE on road, I might meet with an accident.
If I get into a relationship, they might try to change me.
If I don’t follow social norms, they might isolate me.
Oh God, with so many fears...one might just stop living. It is as good as being dead. FACE YOUR FEARS, don’t run away from them. As we know Murphy’s law, “IF SOMETHING HAS TO GO WRONG, IT WILL”. Till then, enjoy every day of your life and celebrate every moment of your life. BE FEARLESS. Do BUNGEE JUMP, SKYDIVE, climb mountains, do sea surfing, anything and everything your heart wants to do.
”
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Sanjeev Himachali
“
All scientists, regardless of discipline, need to be prepared to confront the broadest consequences of our work—but we need to communicate its more detailed aspects as well. I was reminded of this at a recent lunch I attended with some of Silicon Valley’s greatest technology gurus. One of them said, “Give me ten to twenty million dollars and a team of smart people, and we can solve virtually any engineering challenge.” This person obviously knew a thing or two about solving technological problems—a long string of successes attested to that—but ironically, such an approach would not have produced the CRISPR-based gene-editing technology, which was inspired by curiosity-driven research into natural phenomena. The technology we ended up creating did not take anywhere near ten to twenty million dollars to develop, but it did require a thorough understanding of the chemistry and biology of bacterial adaptive immunity, a topic that may seem wholly unrelated to gene editing. This is but one example of the importance of fundamental research—the pursuit of science for the sake of understanding our natural world—and its relevance to developing new technologies. Nature, after all, has had a lot more time than humans to conduct experiments! If there’s one overarching point I hope you will take away from this book, it’s that humans need to keep exploring the world around us through open-ended scientific research. The wonders of penicillin would never have been discovered had Alexander Fleming not been conducting simple experiments with Staphylococci bacteria. Recombinant DNA research—the foundation for modern molecular biology—became possible only with the isolation of DNA-cutting and DNA-copying enzymes from gut- and heat-loving bacteria. Rapid DNA sequencing required experiments on the remarkable properties of bacteria from hot springs. And my colleagues and I would never have created a powerful gene-editing tool if we hadn’t tackled the much more fundamental question of how bacteria fight off viral infections.
”
”
Jennifer A. Doudna (A Crack In Creation: A Nobel Prize Winner's Insight into the Future of Genetic Engineering)
“
Meditation is not an isolated act, it is not something you do and then forget about until the next time you practice. Meditation is a skill, a technique you use to help you regain your focus and concentration any time during your day. Being present and aware of your posture, your thoughts, and your breath on a regular basis during your day are as vital as knowing your shoe size.
”
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Ntathu Allen (Meditation for Beginners: How to Meditate for People Who Hate to Sit Still)
“
Choosing authenticity is not an easy choice. E. E. Cummings wrote, “To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight—and never stop fighting.” “Staying real” is one of the most courageous battles that we’ll ever fight. When we choose to be true to ourselves, the people around us will struggle to make sense of how and why we are changing. Partners and children might feel fearful and unsure about the changes they’re seeing. Friends and family may worry about how our authenticity practice will affect them and our relationships with them. Some will find inspiration in our new commitment; others may perceive that we’re changing too much—maybe even abandoning them or holding up an uncomfortable mirror. It’s not so much the act of authenticity that challenges the status quo—I think of it as the audacity of authenticity. Most of us have shame triggers around being perceived as self-indulgent or self-focused. We don’t want our authenticity to be perceived as selfish or narcissistic. When I first started mindfully practicing authenticity and worthiness, I felt like every day was a walk through a gauntlet of gremlins. Their voices can be loud and unrelenting: “What if I think I’m enough, but others don’t?” “What if I let my imperfect self be seen and known, and nobody likes what they see?” “What if my friends/family/co-workers like the perfect me better … you know, the one who takes care of everything and everyone?” Sometimes, when we push the system, it pushes back. The pushback can be everything from eye rolls and whispers to relationship struggles and feelings of isolation. There can also be cruel and shaming responses to our authentic voices. In my research on authenticity and shame, I found that speaking out is a major shame trigger for women. Here’s how the research participants described the struggle to be authentic: Don’t make people feel uncomfortable but be honest. Don’t upset anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings but say what’s on your mind. Sound informed and educated but not like a know-it-all. Don’t say anything unpopular or controversial but have the courage to disagree with the crowd. I also found that men and women struggle when their opinions, feelings, and beliefs conflict with our culture’s gender expectations. For example, research on the attributes that we associate with “being feminine” tells us that some of the most important qualities for women are thin, nice, and modest.1 That means if women want to play it totally safe, we have to be willing to stay as small, quiet, and attractive as possible. When looking at the attributes associated with masculinity, the researchers identified these as important attributes for men: emotional control, primacy of work, control over women, and pursuit of status.2 That means if men want to play it safe, they need to stop feeling, start earning, and give up on meaningful connection.
”
”
Brené Brown (The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are)
“
You deserve to be a first priority. Even if you feel like you shouldn't be a part of everyone's ways. Stop isolating yourself in the magic ball that will soon turn black with some curse. Your efforts are not worthless. You're smart and your intelligence is your sharpest weapon. Stop giving all of yourself to someone else and start saving some pieces for the rainy days of your soul where you can pick them out of the box and be grateful. Stop being who you aren't and stop playing truth or dare with reality. Take it out. It's been a long time since you have been treated as a second thought or maybe an option. It's now time to stand against all odds and work evenly for your life. You have the heart of a lion that roars in thunders and stops it from growling. Life is temporary. Distinguish between what is real and what is not. Raise your head high and walk like the sky will come down to pick you up, wrapping you in its clouds and sending you to the place where you've always wanted to be. Always try to find the good in your life. Even if it's something bad, it's worth it. You cannot alter God's plans or you cannot plan like Him. Stop running for things that aren't important. Sit with yourself in silence and hear your heartbeat pounding. Stop becoming jaded from being heartbroken. Stop being the magnet of grief and start being the gravity for happiness. Love yourself a little more than you ever loved anyone else.
”
”
Sophia Abid (I Wear a Wig)
“
Writing is a solitary existence. Even in isolation, the writer brings to life a fictional world reimagined by their own journey where love often looses luster. To right wrongs in a perfectly controlled environment is a writer's birthright. To compose harmonious language onto a page that somehow bewitches the reader to feel all those emotions as though it passed through them first and not the former is no accident. Nor supernatural. It's the writer's courage to delve deep enough to excavate the heart of the abyss.
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”
J.S. Nathaniel
“
One of the greatest blessings in life is a godly friend. So don’t be reluctant to call upon your loved ones when you experience moments of loneliness, grief, debilitating loss, or profound despair. He has placed other people in your life to love you, spend time with you, and help you break through the wall of separation you feel from the world. Therefore, don’t remain isolated. Reach out to others and thank God for your friendships.
”
”
Charles F. Stanley (Every Day in His Presence: A Daily Devotional for Finding Peace and Purpose (365 Devotions - Inspiration for Every Day of the Year) (Devotionals from Charles F. Stanley))
“
Children with autism often face bullying or exclusion because their behaviors can appear “different.” This can lead to isolation, low self-esteem, and mental health struggles.
”
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Hagir Elsheikh
“
The insight of interbeing also taught me that the traumatic experiences I went through are not mine alone. We do not have to curl up in a corner with our pain. The revelations of interbeing can inspire us and empower us to heal ourselves, because we know that when one person heals, that person helps many others in society to heal as well. We are fractal structures of our society. We do not heal in isolation; our healing is collective. When we learn to work skillfully with our suffering, we are not only helping ourselves, we are also showing others that there is a way out of their own hurt. This principle of interbeing applies inside of us too. The wounds of both the victims and perpetrators within us will benefit from our practice and we become stronger and more resilient.
”
”
Dang Nghiem (Flowers in the Dark: Reclaiming Your Power to Heal from Trauma with Mindfulness)
“
This type of person experienced feelings of isolation or fear in childhood, and as a result attempted to win the affection of others in the family in order to feel safe.
”
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Tom Butler-Bowdon (50 Psychology Classics: Who We Are, How We Think, What We Do: Insight and Inspiration from 50 Key Books)
“
The first-born from Eve (with the spirit of Lilith) with Samael gave life to the First Satanist, the Adversary of slave-mentality and the mass of sheep, Cain. The ancient myths and legends regarding Cain demonstrate mythical and poetic symbols represented in the Adepts of Luciferian Witchcraft. Cain is present within many traditions of the craft, ours is the more sinister path which instructs and initiates the neophyte to understand the symbolic meaning and teachings beneath the “mask” of Cain. The neophyte seeks a path of self-determined journey towards liberation from restrictive dogma, attaining knowledge and experience to not only trust our instincts, but also to allow your conscious mind to balance your choices in life. The Adversary shocks, inspires terror at first, thrusts the neophyte into the abyss and tests are given for which the initiate must answer and conquer with an iron will. The isolation and loneliness of the neophyte who takes the first steps upon the Left-Hand Path are to sacrifice the mundane, old self that you ‘were’ (as Adam the profane clay before) to the fires of the Blackened Forge of Cain and your Daemon. As you begin to think as Cain the forge brings forth the Adept, thinking ‘like’ Cain and the Luciferian Watchers of our linage unspoken.
”
”
Michael W. Ford (Fallen Angels: Watchers and the Witches Sabbat)
“
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“
There is no safety in vulnerability. There is no safety in being known. And there is no love in isolation.
”
”
Alli Prince (Copper Lies)
“
Staying close to the awesome splendor of nature is a habit of all great masters to remain inspired, focused and joyful in an era of tectonic change and immense upheaval. (They are also alone a lot, because rising to your greatest creative state only occurs in isolation.)
”
”
Robin Sharma (The Titan Playbook: Aim for Iconic, Rise to Legendary, Make History)
“
Does the winner take it all?
They say, in the end winner takes it all,
The loser has to bear the despair and fall,
The winner is there standing tall,
And the loser is moving like shadow on the wall,
While the winner is welcomed by the loud applause,
The loser is still contemplating failure and its emotional clause,
Where he feels time and life, in a state of pause,
And is awakened by this thunderous applause,
Not for him, today, not for him,
And a feeling sad takes over him and he feels grim,
The lights in the playground of life turn dim,
And now nobody, just these faint lights and distant stars look at
him,
He stares back at them in the darkness,
With a sense of isolation a feeling of aloofness,
And then a feeling a freshness and a look of brightness,
Descends upon him amidst these moments of darkness,
And he believes again, he hopes again, and he stands again,
With the will not to surrender, and rise and gain,
No matter how much the pain,
His moment of applause, his winning moment, his new reign,
Of triumph and endless glory,
Where he will be the author of his success story,
And he competes again, this time to win without seeking glory,
Because there is always glory in the winner’s story,
So, he runs and he runs, and reaches the finish line,
He looks behind and claims, “today victory is mine!”
For every failure something is always waiting, always there, the
finish line,
Only if you are willing to run again, compete again, and not let one
failure define,
You, your life or your will to win,
For winner may take it all, but he/she can never take your will to
win,
The fish will swim, the fish will be happy as long as it manages to
flap its fin,
So today let the winner take it all, but tomorrow if you have the will
to win, you will win,
Let them sing, “the winner takes it all,
The loser is bound to fall,”
But the loser will rise again and stand tall,
That is when everything else, except him shall lose and fall!
”
”
Javid Ahmad Tak (They Loved in 2075!)
“
The past general history of punishment, the history of its employment for the most diverse ends, crystallises eventually into a kind of unity, which is difficult to analyse into its parts, and which, it is necessary to emphasise, absolutely defies definition. (It is nowadays impossible to say definitely the precise reason for punishment: all ideas, in which a whole process is promiscuously comprehended, elude definition; it is only that which has no history, which can be defined.) At an earlier stage, on the contrary, that synthesis of meanings appears much less rigid and much more elastic; we can realise how in each individual case the elements of the synthesis change their value and their position, so that now one element and now another stands out and predominates over the others, nay, in certain cases one element (perhaps the end of deterrence) seems to eliminate all the rest. At any rate, so as to give some idea of the uncertain, supplementary, and accidental nature of the meaning of punishment and of the manner in which one identical procedure can be employed and adapted for the most diametrically opposed objects, I will at this point give a scheme that has suggested itself to me, a scheme itself based on comparatively small and accidental material.—Punishment, as rendering the criminal harmless and incapable of further injury.—Punishment, as compensation for the injury sustained by the injured party, in any form whatsoever (including the form of sentimental compensation).—Punishment, as an isolation of that which disturbs the equilibrium, so as to prevent the further spreading of the disturbance.—Punishment as a means of inspiring fear of those who determine and execute the punishment.—Punishment as a kind of compensation for advantages which the wrong-doer has up to that time enjoyed (for example, when he is utilised as a slave in the mines).—Punishment, as the elimination of an element of decay (sometimes of a whole branch, as according to the Chinese laws, consequently as a means to the purification of the race, or the preservation of a social type).—Punishment as a festival, as the violent oppression and humiliation of an enemy that has at last been subdued.—Punishment as a mnemonic, whether for him who suffers the punishment—the so-called "correction," or for the witnesses of its administration.—Punishment, as the payment of a fee stipulated for by the power which protects the evil-doer from the excesses of revenge.—Punishment, as a compromise with the natural phenomenon of revenge, in so far as revenge is still maintained and claimed as a privilege by the stronger races.—Punishment as a declaration and measure of war against an enemy of peace, of law, of order, of authority, who is fought by society with the weapons which war provides, as a spirit dangerous to the community, as a breaker of the contract on which the community is based, as a rebel, a traitor, and a breaker of the peace.
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Friedrich Nietzsche (On the Genealogy of Morals)
“
Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.
”
”
Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird)
“
SHOULD COMPANIES FIRE THEIR DIMINISHERS? Smart companies don’t have to fire every Diminisher, but they should remove them from key leadership roles. If someone insists on being a Diminisher, they may need to be isolated or contained where they can’t do great damage. If they are removed from key leadership roles, other people’s capability gets released and the Diminishers are less likely to inspire managers underneath them to adopt Diminisher leadership practices. This is easier said than done. Diminishers are, by definition, smart and intimidating. The course of least resistance is to keep them in their leadership roles.
”
”
Liz Wiseman (Multipliers, Revised and Updated: Unlocking The Secrets of Effective Leadership to Maximize Team Potential)