Laurence Sterne on Solitude

“Crowded towns and busy societies may delight the unthinking and the gay, but solitude is the best nurse of wisdom.”

“I am impatient to set out for my solitude, for there the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon herself. In the world it seeks or accepts of a few treacherous supports—the feigned compassion of one—the flattery of a second—the civilities of a third—the friendship of a fourth—they all deceive, and bring the mind back to where mine is retreating, to retirement, reflection, and books.”