“In eighteenth-century England, a fad swept the upper class. Several families felt their estate needed a hermit, and advertisements were placed in newspapers for “ornamental hermits” who were slack in grooming and willing to sleep in a cave. The job… — Michael Finkel 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. The further we push aloneness away, the less are we able to cope with it, and the more… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I never do formal interviews. I don't use a tape recorder. I take notes but occasionally. — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“He has seen the bottomless nonsense of our world and has decided, like most of us, to simply try to tolerate it. He appears… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
America might be the land of second chances, but it ain't the land of third chances. — Michael Finkel 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
“The first great literary work about solitude, the Tao Te Ching, was written in ancient China, likely in the sixth century B.C., by a… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
There have always been hermits: people who want to get away from other humans. Literally, some of the first extant books and poems found… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I think many people have this sense that something about modern society - the screens, the noise, the traffic, the constant busyness - has… — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
I'd lied many times: to bolster my credentials, to elicit sympathy, to make myself appear less ordinary. — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
“He never bothered listening to sports; the bored him, every one of them.” — Michael Finkel Copy Share Image
