Consider these quotes a chance to rub shoulders with unmet kindred spirits.
It’s really impossible to avoid. No matter how many friends we have, how cherished we feel by our family, or the current state of our romantic entanglements, at the end of the day, we are all on our own.
Being alone is something we can’t escape, though many people try.
In moments of quiet, they rush to the screen to fill the void, staring at Reels that don’t interest them but are simply there.
Or they swipe through dating apps, not really with any intention of meeting someone. But it’s something to fill the time; to pique the curiosity; to busy the fingers; to attempt to assess our own appearance, status, and social standing by seeing how we stack up against the other fish in the sea.
Others choose to wallow, to lament their solitude and what they perceive as their unique suffering: “No one understands my grief, my troubles, my depression, my demons.”
But they do.
Perhaps not everyone. It’s unlikely that every soul you cross is a long-lost kindred spirit who can understand your intimate yearnings and despair with nary a glance. After all, those are your crosses to bear; they have theirs.
But in recognizing that each of us is lost on our individual paths, searching for meaning and something to give substance to the confusing series of events we call life, we can find a comfort.
That comfort is knowing we are all lost and alone and swimming through the dark. But every now and then, we brush fingers with a passing swimmer and are reminded that, though we may be paddling alone, floundering and thrashing, we are all together in the same ocean, fighting against the same currents, trying our best to stay afloat.
Consider these quotes a chance to rub shoulders with unmet kindred spirits. They may not share your exact troubles, but they can understand the pain.
Still feeling lonely? The cure for loneliness doesn’t come from others; it comes from within.
If you want to learn how to get comfortable being alone in your own company, join A Merry Loner’s 7-Day Do Things Alone Challenge.
The shortlist: 42 quotes about feeling alone to make you feel less lonely
8 quotes about feeling alone in life — to help you get more comfortable in solitude
4 quotes about feeling alone and unwanted — to help you find self-worth in alone time
4 quotes about feeling alone and lost — to remind you that the way forward is by charting your own path, not following others’.
5 quotes about feeling alone in a relationsip — to remind you that solitude is not something to be rescued from
5 quotes about feeling alone in a crowd — to remind you that the cure for loneliness must come from you
3 quotes about feeling alone and depressed — to remember that sadness is a part of the human condition and is always surmountable
6 short quotes about feeling alone — to teach you that alone time isn’t punishment
7 inspirational quotes about feeling alone — to remind you that solitude is not only worthwhile but necessary
More popular posts on the Loner Mindset:
How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
Feeling Alone in a Relationship? It’s Not Always About the Other Person
Quotes about feeling alone in life
There’s no point in trying to run away from loneliness; it is a part of life.
When you learn to not fear solitude but embrace the time and space it gives you to think deeply and experiment freely, then you’ve found the key to a more peaceful life.
Test the waters of spending time alone with these six quotes about feeling alone in life:
1. “All great and precious things are lonely.”
Speaker: John Steinbeck, American writer (1902—1968)
2. “We live as we dream: alone....”
Speaker: Joseph Conrad, Polish-British novelist (1857—1924)
3. “If one's different, one's bound to be lonely.”
Speaker: Aldous Huxley, English writer and philosopher (1894—1963)
4. “Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.”
Speaker: Thomas Wolfe, American writer (1900—1938)
5. “ 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. An intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you'll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.”
Speaker: Janet Fitch, American author (1955—)
6. “Loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself.”
Speaker: Rupi Kaur, Indian-Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author (1992—)
7. “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
Speaker: F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer (1896—1940)
8. “She was beautiful, in the quiet way that lonely, unnoticed people are beautiful to those who notice them.”
Speaker: Jedediah Berry, American writer (1977—)
Want to do more soul-searching than short quotes on feeling alone can provide?
Explore these five Books on Existential Dread, including novels, poetry, and philosophical writings, to probe your inner thinker.
Quotes about feeling alone and unwanted
We often view solitude, not as something we’ve chosen, but as something that has happened to us. If we are alone, it means we have been rejected; we have been left out; nobody wants to love us or hold us.
But that’s not true. Solitude is not a curse foisted upon us but the very place where we can most be ourselves. Learn to find self-respect and self-worth in your alone time, and you will no longer fear the quiet days.
Get inspired with these 4 quotes about feeling alone and sad:
1. “For fear you will be alone, you do so many things that aren’t you at all.”
Speaker: Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (1935—1984)
2. “If you feel unwanted or unappreciated where you are or by those you're with, it only means you're in the wrong place or with the wrong people. Hang in there. Someone else will see you for the true gift you are.”
Speaker: L.K. Hunsaker, American writer (unknown)
3. “I feel profoundly alone, cut off, unattractive…I feel unloveable. But I respect that unloveable soldier—struggling to survive, struggling to be honest, just, honourable. I respect myself.”
Speaker: Susan Sontag, American writer and critic (1933—2004)
4. “I am a lover without a lover. I am lovely and lonely and I belong deeply to myself.”
Speaker: Warsan Shire, British writer, poet, teacher (1988—)
When we feel unwanted by people, we often cushion the blow by wanting material things.
“Once I have these things, then I will be better,” we tell ourselves. “And then I can be loved.”
Don’t be tricked into thinking material goods can take away your loneliness.
Read How to Stop Wanting Things to finally stop trying to fill the void.
Quotes about feeling alone and lost
It’s a natural default to turn to others for guidance.
Surely, others know more than we do. We may not know the details of their lives, their inner turmoil, or their own shortcomings, but from the outside, they seem to be doing much better than we.
So we try to copy them.
This is a mistake and one we are more likely to make when feeling alone, lost, or unsure of what to do next.
Read these 4 quotes about feeling alone and lost to remind yourself that the way forward is by charting your own path, not following another’s:
1. “Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life's cruelest irony.”
Speaker: Douglas Coupland, Canadian novelist, designer and visual artist (1961—)
2. “God, but life is loneliness, despite all the opiates, despite the shrill tinsel gaiety of 'parties' with no purpose, despite the false grinning faces we all wear. And when at last you find someone to whom you feel you can pour out your soul, you stop in shock at the words you utter—they are so rusty, so ugly, so meaningless and feeble from being kept in the small cramped dark inside you so long. Yes, there is joy, fulfillment and companionship—but the loneliness of the soul in its appalling self-consciousness is horrible and overpowering.”
Speaker: Sylvia Plath, American poet and author (1932—1963)
3. “If you don't like the scene you're in, if you're unhappy, if you're lonely, if you don't feel that things are happening, change your scene. Paint a new backdrop.”
Speaker: Leo Buscaglia, American writer, motivational speaker, and professor (1924—1998)
4. “But you can vanquish the demons only when you yourself are convinced of your own worth.”
Speaker: Adeline Yen Mah, Chinese-American author and physician (1937–)
Moving is a major cause of loneliness.
When we step away from familiar surroundings, we sometimes feel like we’re stepping away from our own identity: “Who am I without these people, these places, these things I recognize?”
But wherever you go, you are still there. You still have you.
Read Moving to a New City in Your 30s—Feeling Lonely in Your “Prime” for a true story of searching for fulfillment in new places, only to realize that home and contentment were always within.
Quotes about feeling alone in a relationship
It’s a common misconception that the easiest way out of loneliness is to tie yourself to someone else.
But relationships, whether romantic or familial or platonic, cannot stop us from feeling lonely if we aren’t at peace with ourselves. Actually, getting tangled up in a romantic affair with someone who is merely there to fill the space is a surefire way to feel even more lost, misunderstood, and alone.
These five quotes about feeling alone in a relationship remind us that solitude is not something to be rescued from:
1. "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.”
Speaker: Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (1951—2014)
2. “It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.”
Speaker: George Washington, a Founding Father and first president of the USA (1732—1799)
3. “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.”
Speaker: Kim Culbertson, American author (unknown)
4. “I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”
Speaker: Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (1937—2005)
5. “Don't attach yourself to anyone who shows you the least bit of attention because you're lonely. Loneliness is the human condition. No one is ever going to fill that space. The best thing you can do it know yourself... know what you want.”
Speaker: Janet Fitch, American author (1955—)
What is the real reason so many people feel alone in their relationship?
It’s not their partner’s fault. It’s their own. Read why loneliness in a relationship isn’t always a shared responsibility.
Quotes about feeling alone in a crowd
People do not guarantee connection or understanding or fulfillment. Surrounding ourselves with others can give us a preliminary, surface-level validation: “People like me. I must have value.”
But when we rely on others for validation, our self-worth becomes as fickle as their attention.
Here are five quotes about feeling alone in a crowd to remind you that the cure for loneliness must come from you:
1. “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.”
Speaker: Fiona Apple, American singer-songwriter (1977—)
2. “We are all alone in this world; even in a crowd.”
Speaker: Kenneth G. Eade, American attorney, political activist, and author (1957—)
3. “People empty me. I have to get away to refill.”
Speaker: Charles Bukowski, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer (1920—1994)
4. “A crowd is not company.”
Speaker: Seneca the Younger, Stoic philosopher (4 BC—AD 65)
5. “Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.”
Speaker: Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychologist (1875—1961)
Likes, comments, follows, and subscribers cannot cure loneliness.
They may provide a tingle. They may spark a little joy. They may stroke the ego. But when those sensations evaporate, we’re often left feeling more hollow and hungry for validation than ever before.
Stop the chase. Learn How to Quit Social Media and find 30+ ideas to replace the urge to scroll—morning, noon, and night.
Quotes about feeling alone and depressed
Depression is not something to take lightly, to meme-ify, or to self-diagnose. It is serious suffering that impedes and impairs.
If you or someone you know needs help in the USA, you can call or text 988 or chat at www.988lifeline.org.
If you merely need a few moments to remember that sadness is a part of the human condition and is always surmountable, find comfort in these three quotes about feeling alone and depressed to know others share your plight:
1. “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”
Speaker: Laurell K. Hamilton, American fantasy and romance writer (1963—)
2. “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”
Speaker: John Milton, English poet, polemicist, and civil servant (1608—1674)
3. “What people never understand is that depression isn’t about the outside; it’s about the inside.”
Speaker: Jasmine Warga, American children’s and YA book author (1988—)
I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but: There is no end to sadness in life.
That doesn’t mean life can’t also be joyous and buoyant and celebratory.
Learning to accept the bad with the good can help us enjoy the good moments even more and remember that the bad, no matter how all-encompassing it may now feel, will at some point, also be behind us.
Read “Life Is Sad and Then You Die.” Why this is the motto that will bring you peace.
Short quotes about feeling alone
Alone time isn’t a punishment. It’s where thinking, reflecting, and resting happen.
But we’ve been conditioned to see alone time as embarrassing, selfish, or even shameful. Let these six short quotes about feeling alone change your mind:
1. "If you smile when you are alone, then you really mean it.”
Speaker: Andy Rooney, American radio and television presenter (1919—2011)
2. “If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.”
Speaker: Paulo Coelho de Souza, Brazilian lyricist and novelist (1947–)
3. “You cannot be lonely if you like the person you are alone with.”
Speaker: Wayne Dyer, American self-help author (1940—2015)
4. “Solitude makes it possible for us to literally enjoy ourselves.”
Speaker: Mokokoma Mokhonoana, South African author and philosopher (1985—2023)
5. “If you're lonely when you're alone, you're in bad company.”
Speaker: Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic (1905—1980)
6. “The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.”
Speaker: Mark Twain, American writer, humorist, and essayist (1835—1910)
Do you feel embarrassed doing things alone? Selfish for taking time for yourself? Or ashamed to be without a partner?
Solitude isn’t shameful. It’s where peace is found and creativity is born.
Learn how to reclaim your solitude and find peace doing things alone with A Merry Loner’s 7-Day Do Things Alone Challenge.
Inspirational quotes about feeling alone
Spending time alone can certainly feel lonely. It’s no secret that we are social beings who crave connection, compassion, and community. But that doesn’t mean solitude has to be a punishment.
We should never let ourselves reach the point where we are so desperate for external validation that self-appreciation becomes worthless.
Let these seven inspirational quotes about feeling alone remind you that solitude is not only worthwhile but necessary:
1. “In the middle of winter, I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer.”
Speaker: Albert Camus, French philosopher, novelist, author, journalist, and political activist (1913—1960)
2. “When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings.”
Speaker: Elizabeth Gilbert, American journalist and author (1969—)
3. “A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.”
Speaker: Mandy Hale, American blogger (unknown)
4. “Someday you’re gonna be all alone, so you need to figure out how to take care of yourself.”
Speaker: “The Queen’s Gambit,” American miniseries (2020)
5. “Even in the loneliest moments I have been there for myself.”
Speaker: Sanober Khan, Mumbai-based poet and writer (unknown)
7. “It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone.”
Speaker: Mahatma Gandhi, Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist (1869—1948)
Are you afraid of being alone?
Afraid of turning into a spinster? Being a forever bachelor? Being friendless. Childless. All descriptors we’ve accidentally made synonymous with “worthless.”
Learn why being alone isn’t only not something to be afraid of—it’s the key to happiness.
Conclusion: Quotes of feeling alone remind us we are the only constant in our own lives
Loneliness is unavoidable. Just consider how individual and unique every human being is.
How can we expect others to understand (or even be aware of) the intricacies of each year of our lives that laced together have made us who we are today? They cannot.
This does not mean we cannot experience profound connection or camaraderie or closeness with others. These moments are necessary to the human experience and should also be prioritized.
But as we bond and grow with others, we must never lose the bond we maintain with ourselves. The bond we can only cultivate when we are alone.
This is not a call to shun community or to isolate. But when lonely moments do arrive, don’t rush to fill them with external stimuli. Let yourself steep in them.
For as the years go by, life is made up of many moments of solitude. How will you fill yours?
Next Steps:
Practice spending time alone—without using external stimuli to numb yourself. Join A Merry Loner’s 7-Day Do Things Alone Challenge for daily exercises to teach you how to find comfort in your own company.
Scale back the strange voices you let in. It’s hard to get to know yourself and listen to your intuition when you’re constantly consuming ads, videos, and other people’s ambitions. But you don’t have to let them in. Learn How to Quit Social Media to reclaim your time and sanity.
Give yourself permission to spend time with yourself. It isn’t selfish, embarrassing, or shameful. See 5 reasons why it’s important to learn to enjoy your own company.
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Quotes About Feeling Alone: Common FAQs
What are some quotes to read when you’re feeling alone?
One quote from Joseph Conrad, Polish-British novelist comes to mind: “We live as we dream: alone.”
For deeper musings on feeling alone in a turbulent world, crack open Books for Existential Dread.
What are the best quotes about loneliness?
My favorite author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, said: “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longers are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
Read seven more quotes about feeling alone in life for a new perspective on loneliness.
Is there a quote about love and feeling lonely?
British writer, poet, and teacher Warsan Shire shares a poignant one: “I am a lover without a lover. I am lovely and lonely and I belong deeply to myself.”
See four more quotes about feeling alone and unwanted to help you feel less lonely in love.
What are some quotes on finding happiness in loneliness?
“In the middle of winter, I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer,” said French philosopher, Albert Camus.
Get more perspectives on finding peace in solitude with six more inspirational quotes about feeling alone.
Merry
Merry is the blogger behind A Merry Loner, a full-time freelance writer, and a lifelong bookworm. Since kindergarten, it was her dream to become a novelist. (She likes to think she's headed in the right direction.) Born and raised in Rhode Island, where she earned a triple-major BA in writing, communication, and French from the University of Rhode Island, she moved to Toulouse, France after the pandemic to complete a master's in creative writing at Univeristé Toulouse Jean — Jaurès. She now lives in Paris with husband.
Discover how the merry loner lifestyle makes life more enjoyable:
LONER MINDSET: fresh perspectives on learning to genuinely enjoy your own company
BOOKS: reading lists for people who love being alone with a good story
ANALOG LIVING: inspiration to step back from the screen and live a life offline
SOLO TRAVEL: guides on where to go and how to enjoy it alone
MINDFUL CONSUMPTION: vetted recommendations for a simpler, less wasteful life
LONER Q&As: interviews from global voices on how to live a meaningful, enjoyable life