Solitude

Reposted from Fred Lynch's blog

Picture This.

It seems to me that today if the artist wishes to be serious... he must once more sink himself in solitude.
-Edgar Degas

Art starts alone – and convinces society later.
-Douglas Davis

When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer - say, traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly.
-Wolfgang Mozart

The artist must actively cultivate that state which most people avoid: the state of being alone.
-James Baldwin

I am aware of connectiveness, it is impossible to be isolated completely, but my interest is in solely finding my own way. I don't mind being miles away from everybody else.
-Eva Hesse

I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
-Albert Einstein

The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.
-Thomas Edison

Great decisions in the realm of thought and momentous discoveries and solutions of problems are only possible to an individual working in solitude.
-Sigmund Freud

Solitude vivifies; isolation kills.
-Joseph Roux

One of the greatest necessities in America is to discover creative solitude.
-Carl Sandburg

Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude, and the society of thyself.
-Thomas Browne

If you are alone you belong entirely to yourself.
-Leonardo da Vinci

Alone, and without any reference to his neighbours, without any interference, the artist can fashion a beautiful thing; and if he does not do it solely for his own pleasure, he is not an artist at all.
-Oscar Wilde

In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.
-Rollo May

The things one experiences alone with oneself are very much stronger and purer.
-Eugene Delecroix

If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary, be not idle.
-Samuel Johnson

My work is always better when I am alone and follow my own impressions.
-Claude Monet

A career is born in public - talent in privacy.
-Marilyn Monroe

Isolation can lead to uniqueness, but uniqueness also walks the halls of mental institutions.
-Winston Seeney