We as humans are social beings. We naturally crave friendship and companionship. We seek to establish relationships and strengthen the ones we already have. Despite all this, there comes a point in our life where we feel alone. When we’re left out, misunderstood, ignored, or simply feel unloved, it hits us where it hurts most.
People are lucky if they know the source of their loneliness. Others are not as lucky. It’s easy to imagine life being simple but we’ve since learned that emotions are complex. Maybe that’s the point. We’re supposed to experience loneliness – to discover, to understand, and to tackle it better. Loneliness has no charm whatsoever but there is an upside. We just don’t see it yet.
In a way, loneliness teaches us to be more self-reliant, to not depend on others for validation and fulfillment. So maybe what the world is saying is that we need to be lonely sometimes in order to adapt better. Resilience, after all, makes it easier for us to find happiness, which always turns out to be the ultimate goal.
These 30 lonely quotes may help you understand why you’re feeling the way you do.
Lonely Quotes
Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them. – Jodi Picoult
People think being alone makes you lonely, but I don’t think that’s true. Being surrounded by the wrong people is the loneliest thing in the world. – Kim Culbertson
The time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. – Douglas Coupland
Keep in mind that to avoid loneliness, many people need both a social circle and an intimate attachment. Having just one of two may still leave you feeling lonely. – Gretchen Rubin
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be. – Anne Frank
The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man. –Thomas Wolfe
The scariest part of life isn’t when you slip and fall. It’s not when you realize you are falling with no one to catch you. It’s when you realize you are at your most vulnerable and you are completely and utterly alone.
Sometimes you need to be alone. Not to be lonely, but to enjoy your free time being yourself.
My heart never knew loneliness until you went away. I’m missing you.
Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness? – Haruki Murakami
This world that I live in is empty and cold/the loneliness cuts me and tortures my soul. – Waylon Jennings
Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. – Mother Teresa
I’ve also seen that great men are often lonely. This is understandable because they have built such high standards for themselves that they often feel alone. But that same loneliness is part of their ability to create. – Yousuf Karsh
I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people that make you feel all alone. – Robin William
Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony. – Douglas Coupland
There’s a tremendous difference between alone and lonely. You could be lonely in a group of people. I like being alone. I like eating by myself. I go home at night and just watch a movie or hang out with my dog. I have to exert myself and really say, oh God, I’ve got to see my friends ’cause I’m too content being by myself. – Drew Barrymore
When you’re surrounded by all these people, it can be lonelier than when you’re by yourself. You can be in a huge crowd, but if you don’t feel like you can trust anyone or talk to anybody, you feel like you’re really alone. – Fiona Apple
She’s just a little too scared to get close because everyone who said they’d be there, left.
It all started as a beautiful plan, we were in love, cared for each other, but you left me alone.
We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone. – Orson Welles
Psychologically, loneliness is not about how many friends you have; it’s about feeling disconnected from the rest of the world.
Language… has created the word ‘loneliness’ to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being alone. – Paul Tillich
A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.
Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better. – Henry Rollins
Loneliness does not come from having any people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.
Loneliness is my least favorite thing about life. The thing that I’m most worried about is just being alone without anybody to care for or someone who will care for me. – Anne Hathaway
The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care. – Huge Macleod
The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.
Nobody like being alone. I just hate to be disappointed. – Haruki Murakami
People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges. – Joseph Fort Newton
Share these 30 lonely quotes to remind your friends and loved ones that loneliness is temporary.