Isolation Quotes - Page 20

• Every human being lived behind an impenetrable wall of choking mist within which no other but he existed. Occasionally there were the dim signals from deep within the cavern in which another man was located so that each might grope toward the other. Yet because they did not know one another, and could not understand one another, and dared not trust one another, and felt from infancy the terrors and insecurity of that ultimate isolation there was the hunted fear of man for man, the savage rapacity of man toward man.

  Isaac Asimov

  Wall, Men, Insecurity

  Isaac Asimov (2004). “Second Foundation”, p.100, Spectra

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• By circumstance and perhaps also by inclination, I think in complete intellectual isolation. To expect others to help me think seems to me almost like expecting them to help me digest my food.

  Eric Hoffer

  Thinking, Intellectual, Helping

  "Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook". Harper's Magazine, July 2005.

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• The character structure of modern man, who reproduces a six-thousand-year-old patriarchal authoritarian culture is typified by characterological armoring against his inner nature and against the social misery which surrounds him. This characterolgical armoring of the character is the basis of isolation, indigence, craving for authority, fear of responsibility, mystic longing, sexual misery, and neurotically impotent rebelliousness.

  Wilhelm Reich

  Character, Responsibility, Men

  "The Function of the Orgasm". Book by Wilhelm Reich, 1927.

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• Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the man dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, through defiance or submission, to the commands of others.

  Stanley Milgram

  Men, Dwelling, He Man

  Stanley Milgram (2017). “Obedience to Authority”, p.1, HarperCollins

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• I want to build a bridge to the 21st century that ends the permanent underclass, that lifts up the poor and ends their isolation, their exile, and they are not forgotten anymore.

  William J. Clinton

  Bridges, Want, Forgotten

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• The Sage of Toronto... spent several decades marveling at the numerous freedoms created by a "global village" instantly and effortlessly accessible to all. Villages, unlike towns, have always been ruled by conformism, isolation, petty surveillance, boredom and repetitive malicious gossip about the same families. Which is a precise enough description of the global spectacle's present vulgarity.

  Guy Debord

  Gossip, Boredom, Sage

  "Comments on the Society of the Spectacle". Book by Guy Debord, 1988.

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• Speak to all men as you do to yourself, with no concern for the effect you make, so that you do not shut them out from your world; lest in isolation the meaning of life slips out of sight and you lose the belief in the perfection of creation.

  Leo Szilard

  Men, Sight, Perfection

  "The Voice of the Dolphins: And Other Stories". Book by Leo Szilard, 1961.

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• [Though computer science is a fairly new discipline, it is predominantly based on the Cartesian world view. As Edsgar W. Dijkstra has pointed out] A scientific discipline emerges with the - usually rather slow! - discovery of which aspects can be meaningfully 'studied' in isolation for the sake of their own consistency.

  Edsger Dijkstra

  Discovery, Views, Discipline

  "Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing, 1987, Volume 1". Book edited by Douglas Schuler and Jonathan Jacky, 1989.

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• Aloneness is obviously not isolation, and it is not uniqueness. To be unique is merely to be exceptional in some way, whereas to be completely alone demands extraordinary sensitivity, intelligence, understanding.

  Jiddu Krishnamurti

  Unique, Understanding, Solitude

  Jiddu Krishnamurti (1992). “The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, (1963-1964): The New Mind”, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

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• I wish more of us could understand that our increasing isolation, no matter how much it seems to express pride and self-affirmation, is not the answer to our problems. Rather, the answer is a revival of our ancient commitment to God, who rules over all the peoples of the world and exalts no one over any other, and to the moral and spiritual values which were once legendary in America. We must reach out our hand in friendship both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy.

  Arthur Ashe

  Spiritual, Commitment, Pride

  "Days of Grace: A Memoir". Book by Arnold Rampersad and Arthur Ashe, p. 186, 1993.

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• I have no memory for things I have learned, nor things I have read, nor things experienced or heard, neither for people nor events; I feel that I have experienced nothing, learned nothing, that I actually know less than the average schoolboy, and that what I do know is superficial, and that every second question is beyond me. I am incapable of thinking deliberately; my thoughts run into a wall. I can grasp the essence of things in isolation, but I am quite incapable of coherent, unbroken thinking. I can't even tell a story properly; in fact, I can scarcely talk.

  Franz Kafka

  Running, Memories, Wall

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• Your marriage moves toward a state of isolation. Unless you lovingly and energetically nurture your marriage, you will begin to drift away from your mate.

  Dennis Rainey

  Marriage, Moving, States

  Dennis Rainey (2003). “Staying Close: Stopping the Natural Drift Toward Isolation in Marriage”, p.12, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• The novelist is more a marathon runner than long-distance runner and the kind of courage it takes working in such isolation cannot be underestimated. I really respect my fellow writers on this front.

  Tobsha Learner

  Distance, Long, Novelists

  "'Sphinx' by Tobsha Learner". The Australian Women's Weekly Interview, www.nowtolove.com.au. May 11, 2009.

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• I would much rather sit, dimmed by inattention, and study the atmosphere and the silence and dance between people, but often times I’m not offered this privilege. The necessity for isolation, and the striving for popularity is the only contradiction I find in being a writer and an actress.

  Masiela Lusha

  People, Silence, Atmosphere

  "REEL Lady: Masiela Lusha". REEL Ladies Interview, reelladies.wordpress.com. September 1, 2008.

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• The home stands in contrast to all other capitalist institutions as the last stronghold of pre-capitalist isolation.

  C. L. R. James

  Home, Lasts, Institutions

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• I guess Im attracted and repelled by isolation. It scares me. And its why I tend to write about older characters, too, because for them the stakes are somewhat higher.

  Conor McPherson

  Writing, Character, Scare

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• The differences you perceive between Humans-between groups of Humans-are the result of isolation and inbreeding, mutation, and adaptation to different Earth environments

  Octavia Butler

  Differences, Inbreeding, Groups

  Octavia E. Butler (2012). “Lilith's Brood: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago”, p.334, Open Road Media

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• During the Second World War, nobody built any concert halls or theaters. After the war, Lincoln Center was a very brave project because all those architects had never built a theater before. We've learned a lot since then about the nature of materials and the isolation that's required.

  Hugh Hardy

  War, Lincoln Center, Brave

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• For all the advances in technology, science and communications, there are signs that we are failing in areas where it matters most: our personal relationships and society in general. The atomisation of society evidenced by the startling increase in recent decades of single person households and the identification of loneliness and isolation as one of our most pressing new social problems, should give us cause for concern.

  Cory Bernardi

  Loneliness, Communication, Technology

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• Religions have depended on the relative isolation and ignorance of their flocks, forever and this is all breaking down.

  Daniel Dennett

  Ignorance, Forever, Religion

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• We are living in a new ice age, and we need to apply the recipes of the Cold War to the Kremlin. That means isolation instead of offers of negotiation. And Ukraine should have been supplied with weapons long ago.

  Garry Kasparov

  War, Mean, Ukraine

  "Putin Needs Wars To Legitimize His Position". Interview with Erich Follath, www.spiegel.de. November 10, 2015.

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• Recovery can only take place within the context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation.

  Judith Lewis Herman

  Recovery

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• Politically I am neither left nor right! And this kind of political-ethical standpoint-- being in the middle-- usually brings about seclusion and isolation! But now I do not mind it anymore and, instead, I work more and more in my self-made solitude!

  Javad Alizadeh

  Self, Political, Solitude

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• True drama can be conceived only as resulting from the collective impulse of all the arts to communicate in the most immediate way with a collective public... Thus especially the art of tone, developed with such singular diversity in instrumental music, will realize in the collective artwork its richest potential -- will indeed incite the pantomimic art of dancing in turn to wholly new discoveries and inspire the breath of poetry no less to an undreamed-of fullness. For in its isolation music has formed itself an organ capable of the most immeasurable expression - the orchestra.

  Richard Wagner

  Art, Drama, Discovery

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• Individuality is different than isolation. Isolation is trying to do everything on your own, living life by yourself. Isolation happens when you choose not to be involved in any communities, making sure you keep a safe distance from people in your life. I’m not recommending isolation. Science, psychology, and religion all suggest long term isolation is dangerous and unhealthy.

  Stephen Lovegrove

  Distance, Live Life, Long

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