“I become a transparent eyeball,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Nature.” “I am nothing; I see all.” Lord Byron called it “the feeling infinite”; Jack Kerouac, in Desolation Angels, “the one mind of infinity.” The French Catholic priest Charles de… — 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
“Japanese researchers at Chiba University found that a daily fifteen-minute walk in the woods caused significant decreases in cortisol, along with a modest drop… — Michael Finkel 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 Copy Share Image
