100 Quotes About Lonely

Feeling lonely can be a big distraction from the things you want to accomplish. But being alone doesn’t have to mean being miserable or feeling lost. Here are nine inspiring quotes about loneliness, so you can move past the feelings and begin to find the happiness you deserve.

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We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and–in spite of True Romance magazines–we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely–at least, not all the time–but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness. Hunter S. Thompson
Love is hard to find, hard to keep, and hard...
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Love is hard to find, hard to keep, and hard to forget. Alysha Speer
...and you drink a little too much and try a...
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...and you drink a little too much and try a little too hard. And you go home to a cold bed and think, 'That was fine'. And your life is a long line of fine. Gillian Flynn
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If you learn to really sit with loneliness and embrace it for the gift that it is…an opportunity to get to know YOU, to learn how strong you really are, to depend on no one but YOU for your happiness…you will realize that a little loneliness goes a LONG way in creating a richer, deeper, more vibrant and colorful YOU. Mandy Hale
I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place...
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I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid. Lois Lowry
It is beautiful, it is endless, it is full and...
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It is beautiful, it is endless, it is full and yet seems empty. It hurts us. Jackson Pearce
7
I thought that if I owned nothing, had nothing, was nothing, I would have nothing left to lose, and I wouldn't be scared anymore. Because my whole life I’ve been so damn scared. Scared to live because I was scared to die. But at the same I was so scared of living, so I wanted to die. Or maybe so scared of dying that I refused to live. You don't have to be afraid to fall, when you're already on the ground. You don't have to be scared to lose someone, when there's no one around to lose. . Charlotte Eriksson
8
So, this is how it's become? This is how I've become? A walking contradiction? I'm surrounded by people and feel alone. I claim to crave a bit of normalcy but now that I have some, it's like I don't know what to do with it, I don't know how to be a normal person anymore. Gayle Forman
Even in the loneliest momentsi have been therefor myself.
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Even in the loneliest momentsi have been therefor myself. Sanober Khan
When you are lonely for a while don't get restless,...
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When you are lonely for a while don't get restless, if you had born alone, you are going to die alone then for sometime you can certainly live alone. Amit Kalantri
I care for no man on earth, and no man...
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I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me. Charles Dickens
Sometimes the sound of silence is the most deafening sound...
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Sometimes the sound of silence is the most deafening sound of all. K.L. Toth
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Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. Janet Fitch
14
I feel strangely free at such times. To behave properly is to be always courteous, always clever, and subtle and elegant. But now, when I am so alone, I do not have to be any of these things. For this moment, I am wholly myself, unshaped by the needs of others, by their dreams or expectations or sensibilities. But I am also lonely. With no one to shape me, who stands here, watching the moon, or the stars, or the clouds? . Kij Johnson
If it's true what is said, that only the wise...
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If it's true what is said, that only the wise discover the wise, then it must also be true that the lone wolf symbolizes either the biggest fool on the planet or the biggest Einstein on the planet. Criss Jami
Don't think you can frighten me by telling me that...
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Don't think you can frighten me by telling me that I am alone. France is alone. God is alone. And the loneliness of God is His strength. George Bernard Shaw
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Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone...let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape yourself, for God has singled you out. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Always remember that you were once alone, and the crowd...
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Always remember that you were once alone, and the crowd you see in your life today are just as unecessary as when you were alone. Michael Bassey Johnson
She slammed the door andwas gone. I looked at the...
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She slammed the door andwas gone. I looked at the closed doorand at the doorknoband strangely I didn't feelalone. Charles Bukowski
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Because no one can make another person happy", said George. "He was happy when he was with me, but otherwise he wasn't. That's not enough. I mean, in a relationship, you have your ups and downs, sure, and you help each other through, but if a person is genuinely unhappy, it won't work. No amount of love or laughter from the other person can fix that. Each person has to love and laugh on their own They need to feel it for real, deep down, in here. Cindy L. Rodriguez
You don't have to be happy to spread happiness.
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You don't have to be happy to spread happiness. Naresh Soni
Sadly a pinch of happiness is not sold in markets.
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Sadly a pinch of happiness is not sold in markets. Alamvusha
We've got a bond in common, you and I. We...
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We've got a bond in common, you and I. We are both alone in the world. Daphne Du Maurier
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From midnight to 4: 00 AM is the loneliest time in the world. Because for those of us too sad to sleep, the only thing we have to look at is an empty bed, and the only thing we have to think of is every single person who didn't want to fill it tonight. Lone Alaskan Gypsy
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Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine. Charlotte Eriksson
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I'm still looking for someone Who said they were here for me, And I thought I was once there for you. But when troubles are nearer than friends, And the road comes to an end, What could I do? I wish I could fly away like you. Margo T. Rose
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As long as there arehuman beings aboutthere is never going to beany peacefor any individualupon this earth (oranywhere elsethey mightescape to).all you can dois maybe grabten lucky minuteshereor maybe an hourthere.somethingis working toward youright now, and I mean youand nobody butyou. Charles Bukowski
A dead dog is more quiet than a house on...
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A dead dog is more quiet than a house on the steppes, a chair in a empty room. Per Petterson
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People who do a job that claims to be creative have to be alone to recharge their batteries. You can’t live 24 hours a day in the spotlight and remain creative. For people like me, solitude is a victory. Karl Lagerfeld
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She was completely alone in the world. There was no one at all for her. No one in the world who cared whether she lived or died. Sometimes the horror of that thought threatened to overwhelm her and plunge her down into a bottomless darkness from which there would be no return. If no one in the entire world cared about you, did you really exist at all? Cassandra Clare
Loneliness tortures many if not most of the elderly more...
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Loneliness tortures many if not most of the elderly more intensely and more frequently than it torments many if not most of us who will never be or have not yet been pushed or pulled into old age. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Being bored is the price we pay for not being...
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Being bored is the price we pay for not being insane. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
There is no such thing as a boring person when...
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There is no such thing as a boring person when you are lonely or extremely bored. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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Ah! listen the song of storm from my disturbed soul;and it scatters flower buds into its lonely halls;like every pain needs a dirge, with wreaths that awful the world framed one for me, and gives the time it calls. Nithin Purple
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The thick baffling blades of false world customs rip off my views and ideas, like breaking every string of my aesthetic thoughts in disdain and jealousy;pain pain enough your tigrine roars before I die. Nithin Purple
And sadness clung to mebecause she did not knowhow to...
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And sadness clung to mebecause she did not knowhow to be alone. AVA.
There is a difference betweenloneliness and solitude, one will empty...
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There is a difference betweenloneliness and solitude, one will empty you andone will fill you.you have the power to choose. AVA.
Sometimes you need to sit lonely on the floor in...
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Sometimes you need to sit lonely on the floor in a quiet room in order to hear your own voice and not let it drown in the noise of others. Charlotte Eriksson
Poems can getsleepless tooand becomethe loneliest thingin the universe.
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Poems can getsleepless tooand becomethe loneliest thingin the universe. Sanober Khan
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You become a house where the wind blows straight through, because no one bothers the crack in the window or lock on the door, and you’re the house where people come and go as they please, because you’re simply too unimpressed to care. You let people in who you really shouldn’t let in, and you let them walk around for a while, use your bed and use your books, and await the day when they simply get bored and leave. You’re still not bothered, though you knew they shouldn’t have been let in in the first place, but still you just sit there, apathetic like a beggar in the desert. Charlotte Eriksson
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Miss Abigail, I want to be an author because writers know when a person is lonely. I mean, when Molly read me some books, those writers reached out and said, Look Gideon, we know about your loneliness and we know you're feeling downtrodden. And they said... I'll stand up for you. You're not lone anymore. Leon Uris
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We met at a cross-roads in life, But we were going different directions. We were part of each other's lives, But only for a moment. The first person that you meet in life Won't necessarily be the one who's forever. Just look at you and me, And it's not hard to see that This is the moment before life goes on. We are still friends; We are still really good friends. Please tell me that you agree. But I'm not the one for you, And you just can't see yourself with me. . Margo T. Rose
I asked myself only when he needed my help,
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I asked myself only when he needed my help, "How will the broken heal the wounded? Sanhita Baruah
If you are the land, then I am the sea....
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If you are the land, then I am the sea. I don't need you and you don't need me. Maria Elena
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Subway stations...passengers who token through life Unknown
The actuality that the heart does not want to feel,...
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The actuality that the heart does not want to feel, doesn't negate the certitude that it once felt and will still feel. Itohan Eghide
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Sometimes I sit and stare out at the people walking by, wondering if they’ve felt as I’ve felt, trapped, alone, but guiltily content in the knowledge that I will never know another’s thoughts, and therefore can feel special due to my unique loneliness. Moryah DeMott
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We're going to meet a lot of lonely people in the next week and the next month and the next year. And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering. That's where we'll win out in the long run. And someday we'll remember so much that we'll build the biggest goddamn steamshovel in history and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in it and cover it up. Ray Bradbury
It had filled my time - given me quiet, steadfast...
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It had filled my time - given me quiet, steadfast company with those characters, who did not exist and never would, but somehow made me feel less ... alone. Sarah J. Maas
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If someone had asked him, “Ben, are you lonely? , ” he would have looked at that someone with real surprise. The question had never even occurred to him. He had no friends, but he had his books and his dreams; Stephen King
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If someone had asked him, “Ben, are you lonely? , ” he would have looked at that someone with real surprise. The question had never even occurred to him. He had no friends, but he had his books and his dreams... Stephen King
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I get so god damn lonely and sad and filled with regrets some days. It overwhelms me as I’m sitting on the bus; watching the golden leaves from a window; a sudden burst of realisation in the middle of the night. I can’t help it and I can’t stop it. I’m alone as I’ve always been and sometimes it hurts…. but I’m learning to breathe deep through it and keep walking. I’m learning to make things nice for myself. To comfort my own heart when I wake up sad. To find small bits of friendship in a crowd full of strangers. To find a small moment of joy in a blue sky, in a trip somewhere not so far away, a long walk an early morning in December, or a handwritten letter to an old friend simply saying ”I thought of you. I hope you’re well.” No one will come and save you. No one will come riding on a white horse and take all your worries away. You have to save yourself, little by little, day by day. Build yourself a home. Take care of your body. Find something to work on. Something that makes you excited, something you want to learn. Get yourself some books and learn them by heart. Get to know the author, where he grew up, what books he read himself. Take yourself out for dinner. Dress up for no one but you and simply feel nice. it’s a lovely feeling, to feel pretty. You don’t need anyone to confirm it. I get so god damn lonely and sad and filled with regrets some days, but I’m learning to breathe deep through it and keep walking. I’m learning to make things nice for myself. Slowly building myself a home with things I like. Colors that calm me down, a plan to follow when things get dark, a few people I try to treat right. I don’t sometimes, but it’s my intent to do so. I’m learning. I’m learning to make things nice for myself. I’m learning to save myself. I’m trying, as I always will. . Charlotte Eriksson
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How easily such a thing can become a mania, how the most normal and sensible of women once this passion to be thin is upon them, can lose completely their sense of balance and proportion and spend years dealing with this madness. Kathryn Hurn
I fear being alone more than anything else. So why...
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I fear being alone more than anything else. So why do I do this? Why do I push away the people I love? What is so very wrong with me? I don’t know. And I don’t know how to make it stop. Victoria Aveyard
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In a polished surface of metal I happen to notice my reflected face; it wears a pale, beaten lonely look, eyes looking out at nothing with an expression of fear, frightened and lonely in a nightmare world. Something, I don’t know what, makes me think of my childhood; I remember myself as a schoolchild sitting at a hard wooden desk, and then as a little girl with thick, fair, wind-tossed hair, feeding the swans in a park. And it seems both strange and sad to me that all those childish years were spent in preparation for this — that, forgotten by everybody, with a beaten face, I should serve machinery in a place far away from the sun. Anna Kavan
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The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature's beauty and simplicity. As long as this exists, and that should be forever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances. I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer. . Anne Frank
The depressed and the suicidal are often lonely and inhibited....
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The depressed and the suicidal are often lonely and inhibited. Discussions of inhibition in this context usually emphasize fear of rejection. David L. Conroy
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Fear tells me that while there might be a host of people who wish to stand beside me in times of crisis, the tangled wreckage is sometimes so enormous that the best of their efforts leave them stranded at a great distance. And standing desperately alone surveying the carnage that holds all others a bay, God suddenly taps me on the shoulder, leans over and whispers, 'how about a little demolition? . Craig D. Lounsbrough
Don't confuse love with the fear of being lonely...
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Don't confuse love with the fear of being lonely... Erik Tanghe
I was out on a lonely road that stretched forever...
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I was out on a lonely road that stretched forever into the darkness. I wanted to run, to get away from him, but it was so dark, I was afraid of where I was going. Christina Dodd
And then things would be fine. Then I'd be fine.
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And then things would be fine. Then I'd be fine. Sarah J. Maas
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He thought how silly it was that he believed in something so arbitrary. He foolishly believed he had a purpose, that he was destined for something better. Now he had to live with the fact that he was just a lonely boy with no identity at all. And he had made a lot of terrible mistakes. Kris Noel
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Great growth comes from loneliness. You have time to develop, dwell in your own mind and go a bit mad. All great people are a bit mad. That’s good to remember. Don’t escape it.  Great growth comes from time spent in foreign lands, watching foreign people with foreign cultures. It makes you forget about your own land and race and town for a while. Great growth also comes from rooting yourself into one place from time to time. Unpack your bags, get a nice bed, a book shelf, some friends. Learn to show up, keep in touch, stick around.  Growth comes in all sort of forms and shapes, everywhere at all times, and it’s yours to take and consume. Do what ought to be done. Here and now, to get you somewhere – anywhere. Charlotte Eriksson
To me, you were more than just a person. You...
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To me, you were more than just a person. You were a place where I finally felt at home. Denice Envall
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Friends are a strange, volatile, contradictory, yet sticky phenomenon. They are made, crafted, shaped, molded, created by focused effort and intent. And yet, true friendship, once recognized, in its essence is effortless. Best friends are formed by time. Everyone is someone's friend, even when they think they are all Vera Nazarian
If I exist, then surely there must be someone else...
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If I exist, then surely there must be someone else out there like me. Joyce Rachelle
Nobody really wants to be your friend when they discover...
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Nobody really wants to be your friend when they discover that you work with dead people. Rebecca McNutt
You know that I love you quite a lot --But...
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You know that I love you quite a lot --But sometimes... not. Sometimes not. I don't know why. I guess IJust hate you sometimes, Because sometimes I even hate myself, And she loves you. Margo T. Rose
I know I've got no reason to be crying; I...
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I know I've got no reason to be crying; I know that there is nowhere left to run. I know that there's no reason to be hiding, I'm just mad at everyone; mad at everyone. Margo T. Rose
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All the things that you said when you thought I wasn't there, I just tell them to my corner, 'cause no one else would care. That way, when I'm with you, I can keep a cheerful face, But for the moment, I really just need some space. Margo T. Rose
A lonely soul is the best friend of itself
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A lonely soul is the best friend of itself Munia Khan
Everyone just outgrew me. Now I think I'm just haunting...
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Everyone just outgrew me. Now I think I'm just haunting them. John Corey Whaley
The loneliness you feel with another person, the wrong person,...
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The loneliness you feel with another person, the wrong person, is the loneliest of all. Deb Caletti
People are... Full of contradictions. They're lonely. And then they're...
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People are... Full of contradictions. They're lonely. And then they're not. They're missed. And then they're not. Kou Yoneda
Even the most popular people could feel lonely sometimes.
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Even the most popular people could feel lonely sometimes. Aishabella Sheikh
Be careful of broken people. Their sharp edges may cut...
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Be careful of broken people. Their sharp edges may cut you. Nickiesha Reid
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It’s the beating of my heart. The way I lie awake, playing with shadows slowly climbing up my wall. The gentle moonlight slipping through my window and the sound of a lonely car somewhere far away, where I long to be too, I think. It’s the way I thought my restless wandering was over, that I’d found whatever I thought I had found, or wanted, or needed, and I started to collect my belongings. Build a home. Safe behind the comfort of these four walls and a closed door. Because as much as I tried or pretended or imagined myself as a part of all the people out there, I was still the one locking the door every night. Turning off the phone and blowing out the candles so no one knew I was home. ’cause I was never really well around the expectations of my personalityand I wanted to keep to myself. and because I haven’t been very impressed lately. By people, or places. Or the way someone said he loved me and then slowly changed his mind. Charlotte Eriksson
I grew up a dreamer, lonely, one foot on the...
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I grew up a dreamer, lonely, one foot on the earth, the other on the moon. Philippe Lechermeier
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I'm lonely, Yes! I'm so lonely. I'm Just a sad tear that came out of the depths of pain. I have neither friend nor a lover. I live in an empty dark shell. Punctuated by the lights of my dreams. I hear a whisper. I hear an echo. Why everything I love in this world. It's expensive, or it makes me sad. Beyond my shell, there is an empty world. A world filled with hatred and lies. A world filled with vanity and treason. A world filled with injustice and selfishness. There is a noise in my silence, but I shout quietly. So as to your pure heart can hear me. I tried to escape from my bitter reality. A reality that walks against my dreams. I found out that sleep is my best shelter. Because life is easy when eyes are closed. So I give up my eyes, and went to sleep. Then suddenly! I felt a call, something tried to wake me up. I felt whispers caressing my soul. That together we stand, divided we fall. That you are the king of my thrown, And only beside you, I feel like I have everything. I love you my shell, my home. . Eyden I.
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I've heard you say so many a time That I know just the right words to say, just the right lines to rhyme... Today it's been 7 years since we last met I have learnt to say just the wrong words, just the lines you hate.... Sanhita Baruah
81
You Will Never Live A Perfect Life - Getting In A Relationship Is Like Diving In A Sea, You Can Drown And Whales And Sharks Can Kill You. On The Other Hand, Being Single Is Like Staying Away From That Water, You Will Starve. Cyc Jouzy
82
The time had finally come when she would have to accept the full power of the Starwife. No longer could she be just Ysabelle. Now she had a land to govern and all the daunting responsibilities that that entailed. The liberty she had experienced since the night she had escaped from the Ring of Banbha seemed to vanish. She was left stripped of her freedom, and only long years of a lonely reign stretched out before her. Robin Jarvis
All I have is me, myself and I and we...
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All I have is me, myself and I and we are all getting really tired of each other. Carl R White
He was in love with every pretty woman he saw...
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He was in love with every pretty woman he saw now, their forms at a distance, their shadows on the walls. F. Scott Fitzgerald
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It doesn't mean anything; It doesn't change anything, Except the way I see myself, And it's not supposed to do that. I shouldn't feel this way; I should cry this way, But I kind of do. Yeah, I kind of do. Margo T. Rose
86
Carmen: “I want you to leave me alone, but not ignore me. I want you to miss me when I go away to college, but not be sad. I want you to stay exactly the same, but not be lonely or alone. I want to do the leaving, and not have you ever leave me. Ann Brashares
The most beautiful things often stand alone.
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The most beautiful things often stand alone. Jenim Dibie
There’s not much that I can find in places where...
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There’s not much that I can find in places where there is nothing to find. However, to avoid facing God I find myself spending a lot of time in those very places. Craig D. Lounsbrough
What broke your heart so bad That you had to...
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What broke your heart so bad That you had to close every door, That you say you have a dark soul And can't utter the word 'love' anymore? Sanhita Baruah
90
At that time, I well remember whatever could excite - certain accidents of the weather, for instance, were almost dreaded by me, because they woke the being I was always lulling, and stirred up a craving cry I could not satisfy. One night a thunder-storm broke; a sort of hurricane shook us in our beds: the Catholics rose in panic and prayed to their saints. As for me, the tempest took hold of me with tyranny: I was roughly roused and obliged to live. I got up and dressed myself, and creeping outside the basement close by my bed, sat on its ledge, with my feet on the roof of a lower adjoining building. It was wet, it was wild, it was pitch dark. Within the dormitory they gathered round the night-lamp in consternation, praying loud. I could not go in: too resistless was the delight of staying with the wild hour, black and full of thunder, pealing out such an ode as language never delivered to man - too terribly glorious, the spectacle of clouds, split and pierced by white and blinding bolts. . Unknown
I was wandering lonely and lost, till the musicyou played...
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I was wandering lonely and lost, till the musicyou played pulledmy soul into a vortex of emotions, reminding me that I was still alive Vijaya Gowrisankar
He’d fallen in the trap before of believing she had...
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He’d fallen in the trap before of believing she had the cold soul of an ice queen, but moments like these, it seemed more like she’d been encased a long time ago and couldn’t break free. Katherine McIntyre
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Love is worth so much more than money. There are so many people who are filthy rich, but have nobody to genuinely love them. Unconditional love is priceless. If you have someone who really loves you for your heart, without any conditions, then you are truly one of the wealthiest people in the world. Suzy Kassem
94
I pulled the sheet off their faces. Their faces were black with coal dust and didn't look like anything was wrong with them except they were dirty. The both of them had smiles on their faces. I thought maybe one of them had told a joke just before they died and, pain and all, they both laughed and ended up with a smile. Probably not true but but it made me feel good to think about it like that, and when the Sister came in I asked her if I could clean their faces and she said, "no, certainly not! " but I said, "ah, c'mon, it's me brother n' father, I want to, " and she looked at me and looked at me, and at last she said, "of course, of course, I'll get some soap and water." When the nun came back she helped me. Not doing it, but more like showing me how, and taking to me, saying things like "this is a very handsome man" and "you must have been proud of your brother" when I told her how Charlie Dave would fight for me, and "you're lucky you have another brother"; of course I was, but he was younger and might change, but she talked to me and made it all seem normal, the two of us standing over a dead face and cleaning the grit away. The only other thing I remember a nun ever saying to me was, "Mairead, you get to your seat, this minute!. Sheldon Currie
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People do not recognize that you can do it when you merely tell them you can. Until they see you doing it, they won’t follow you. Leaders who are willing to go further alone today are those to be consulted for solutions tomorrow. Israelmore Ayivor
96
I thought of the cool, fresh air of the city I'd always dreamed of living in. The art museums and trolleys and the mysterious fog that blanketed it. I could almost smell the cappuccinos I'd planned to drink in bohemian cafes or hear the indie music in the bookstores I would spend my free time in. I pictured the friends I'd make, my kindred art people, and the dorm room I was supposed to move into. . Heather Demetrios
97
The modern age, with its growing world-alienation, has led to a situation where man, wherever he goes, encounters only himself. All the processes of the earth and the universe have revealed themselves either as man-made or as potentially man-made. These processes, after having devoured, as it were, the solid objectivity of the given, ended by rendering meaningless the one over-all process which originally was conceived in order to give meaning to them, and to act, so to speak, as the eternal time-space into which they could all flow and thus be rid of their mutual conflicts and exclusiveness. This is what happened to our concept of history, as it happened to our concept of nature. In the situation of the radical world-alienation, neither history nor nature is at all conceivable. This twofold loss of the world– the loss of nature and the loss of human artifice in the widest sense, which would include all history, has left behind it a society of men who, without a common world which would at once relate and separate them, either live in desperate lonely separation or are pressed together into a mass. For a mass-society is nothing more than that kind of organized living which automatically establishes itself among human beings who are still related to one another but have lost the world once common to all of them. . Hannah Arendt
98
I made spasmodic efforts to work, assuring myself that once I began working I would forget her. The difficulty was in beginning. There was a feeling of weakness, a sort of powerlessness now, as though I were about to be ill but was never quite ill enough, as though I were about to come down with something I did not quite come down with. It seemed to me that for the first time in my life I had been in love, and had lost, because of the grudgingness of my heart, the possibility of having what, too late, I now thought I wanted. What was it that all my life I had so carefully guarded myself against? What was it that I had felt so threatened me? My suffering, which seemed to me to be a strict consequence of having guarded myself so long, appeared to me as a kind of punishment, and this moment, which I was now enduring, as something which had been delayed for half a lifetime. I was experincing, apparently, an obscure crisis of some kind. My world acquired a tendency to crumble as easily as a soda cracker. I found myself horribly susceptible to small animals, ribbons in the hair of little girls, songs played late at night over lonely radios. It became particularly dangerous for me to go near movies in which crippled girls were healed by the unselfish love of impoverished bellhops. I had become excessively tender to all the more obvious evidences of the frailness of existence; I was capable of dissolving at the least kind word, and self-pity, in inexhaustible doses, lay close to my outraged surface. I moved painfully, an ambulatory case, mysteriously injured. Alfred Hayes
99
Sometimes the emptiness in a room becomes palpable as if you could reach out and touch it real, hear its silence, feel its black nothingness. It invades your spirit, your soul like a stealthy misperception; a liquid lie that whispers and will not die, and makes you fight to stay alive. Gloria Smith
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Maybe that's what writers do- Maybe they exaggerate pain just so that you feel okay about what you're feeling. Sanhita Baruah