Solitude is not the same as loneliness. Solitude is a solitary boat floating in a sea of possible companions.
Interpretation
Solitude is a state of being alone but not lonely; it can be a fulfilling experience.
This quote by Robert Fulghum emphasizes the distinction between solitude and loneliness. Solitude is portrayed as a peaceful, intentional state where one can find clarity and self-reflection, akin to a boat floating amidst possibilities of connection, while loneliness is often viewed as a state of isolation and yearning for companionship. Fulghum suggests that solitude can be enriching and is not necessarily associated with the negative connotations of being alone.
In practice
This quote can be used during a mindfulness workshop to highlight the importance of solitude.
If dandelions were rare and fragile, people would knock themselves out to pay $14.95 a plant, raise them by hand in greenhouses, and form dandelion societies and all that. But, they are everywhere and don't need us and kind of do what they please. So we call them weeds and murder them at every opportunity
Weβre all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness β and call it love β true love.
Peace is not something you wish for, it's something you make
Doing a straight-forward, clear-cut task that has a beginning and an end balances out the complexity-without-end that often vexes the rest of my life. Sacred simplicity.
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
As one old gentleman put it, " Son, I don't care if you're stark nekkid and wear a bone in your nose. If you kin fiddle, you're all right with me. It's the music we make that counts.
When we dehumanise and demonise our opponents, we abandon the possibility of peacefully resolving our differences, and seek to justify violence against them.
Government power must be dispersed. If government is to exercise power, better in the county than in the state, better in the state than in Washington. If I do not like what my local community does, be it in sewage disposal, or zoning, or schools, I can move to another local community, and though few may take this step, the mere possibility acts as a check. If I do not like what Washington imposes, I have few alternatives in this world of jealous nations.
[Slavery] is a weed that grows in every soil.
Why not, when it can be done without exposure or expense, let me rescue some of America's miserable children from vice and guilt?
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
You, yesterday, did the usual things, just as any day, You don't know if it's worth remembering. You would prefer to remember, there lying in the half-darkness of the bedroom, not what has happened already but what is going to happen. In your half-darkness your eyes would prefer to look ahead, not behind, and they do not know how to foresee the past.
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