“He never bothered listening to sports; the bored him, every one of them.” — Michael Finkel Bored Copy Share Image
“The world is a confusing place, meaningful and meaningless at once.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“survive, and neither do the strong. Life is a constant, merciless fight that everyone loses.” — Michael Finkel Life Copy Share Image
I'm always theoretically opposed to capital punishment as a matter of policy; like, I don't believe a state should put its citizens… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“Noise harms your body and boils your brain. The word "noise" derives from the Latin word nausea.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“reaching through time and speaking directly to him: Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground. “I recognize myself” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“life isn’t about searching endlessly to find what’s missing; it’s about learning to live with the missing parts.” — Michael Finkel Learning Copy Share Image
“Everyone dreams of dropping out of the world once in a while. Then you get in the car and drive back home.” — Michael Finkel Dreams Copy Share Image
“The only book Knight didn't steal was the one he most often saw. 'I had no need for a Bible,' he said.” — Michael Finkel Bible Copy Share Image
My fight-or-flight mechanism... had served me well in Gaza, in Afghanistan, and all the places I'd been. — Michael Finkel Afghanistan Copy Share Image
“The American essayist William Deresiewicz wrote that “no real excellence, personal or social, artistic, philosophical, scientific, or moral, can arise without solitude.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“Socrates may have concluded that his most valuable possession was his leisure. “Beware the barrenness of a busy life” is a quote… — Michael Finkel Busy life Copy Share Image
I spent most of my youth in Montana, where there are long, cold winters, but Maine has the coldest winters you could… — Michael Finkel Cold Copy Share Image
I tend to be a fairly spirited person, but I've never hated anyone more than I hated Christian Longo after his trial,… — Michael Finkel Duped Copy Share Image
As a writer, I spend a lot of time alone, and I like it. I'm also a long-distance runner, and I love… — Michael Finkel Alone Copy Share Image
In an odd sort of way, the computer and the Internet is the hermit's ideal form of communication. You don't have to… — Michael Finkel Communication Copy Share Image
“The fact that Longo himself was a skilled liar seemed to engender in him an ancillary condition in which he was distrustful… — Michael Finkel Distrustful Copy Share Image
My advice for telling someone else's story is to try not to consciously bend the story in any particular direction - to… — Michael Finkel Advice Copy Share Image
“I become a transparent eyeball,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Nature.” “I am nothing; I see all.” Lord Byron called it “the… — Michael Finkel Fifteen years Copy Share Image
“Soon he essentially stopped talking. "I am retreating into silence as a defensive mode," he mentioned. Eventually, he was down to uttering… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“The uncertainty wore on him. The conditions in jail--the handcuffs, the noise, the filth, the crowding--mangled his senses. It's likely that, if… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“With his release imminent, Knight seems more unsettled than ever. He scratches furiously at his knees. Jail, he's realized, might not be… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“In eighteenth-century England, a fad swept the upper class. Several families felt their estate needed a hermit, and advertisements were placed in… — Michael Finkel Family Copy Share Image
“Perceptive and valuable personal explorations of time alone include A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland, Party of One by Anneli Rufus,… — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
“The first great literary work about solitude, the Tao Te Ching, was written in ancient China, likely in the sixth century B.C.,… — Michael Finkel Solitude Copy Share Image
“Not for a moment did he consider keeping a journal. He would never allow anyone to read his private thoughts; therefore, he… — Michael Finkel Honest Copy Share Image
“His chief form of entertainment was reading. The last moments he was in a cabin were usually spent scanning bookshelves and nightstands.… — Michael Finkel Body language Copy Share Image
“Modern life seems set up so that we can avoid loneliness at all costs, but maybe it's worthwhile to face it occasionally.… — Michael Finkel Alone Copy Share Image
“In 1988, a cave explorer named Véronique Le Guen volunteered for an extreme experiment: to live alone in an underground cavern in… — Michael Finkel Alone Copy Share Image
“Those with less become content,” says the Tao, “those with more become confused.” The” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“Knight's disdain for Thoreau was bottomless - 'he had no deep insight into nature'...” — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
Not to get too maudlin, but I think all mistakes are tests for one's mettle. — Michael Finkel Failure Copy Share Image
