“I don't suffer much from solitude in the evenings. I spring upon my books. I always spoke a good word for solitude, and it is grateful to me. Books ward off the ghastly thoughts.”

“Now and then, especially at night, solitude loses its soft power and loneliness takes over. I am grateful when solitude returns.”

“But I pine in Solitude. Solitude is my undoing.”

“I was a man who thrived on solitude; without it I was like another man without food or water. Each day without solitude weakened me. I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it.”

“Books are solitudes in which we meet.”

“Never forget that solitude is my lot… I implore those who love me to love my solitude."

(, May 11, 1910)”

“Solitude gives an I. I that gives solitude. It is in our thoughts, and the one the world gives, in our feelings. Because solitude grows accustomed to seeing, to contemplating; and the world, to acting for itself.”

“I don't write a book so that it will be the final word; I write a book so that other books are possible, not necessarily written by me.”

“Not that she objected to solitude. Quite the contrary. She had books, thank Heaven, quantities of books. All sorts of books.”

“My solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company.”