--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She bade solitude good-bye. Good-bye to…" description: "\"“She bade solitude good-bye. Good-bye to no schedule but whim; good-bye to her life among no things but her own and each always in place; good-bye to n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/annie-dillard-509_free-thought_she-bade-solitude-good-bye-good-bye-to-n_2498573.jpg" --- # She bade solitude good-bye. Good-bye to no schedule but… ![“She bade solitude good-bye. Good-bye to no schedule but whim; good-bye to her life among no things but her own and each always in place; good-bye to no real meals, good-bye free thought. The whole fat flock of them flapped away. But what was solitude for if not to foster decency? Her solitude…” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/annie-dillard-509_free-thought_she-bade-solitude-good-bye-good-bye-to-n_2498573.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/annie-dillard-509_free-thought_she-bade-solitude-good-bye-good-bye-to-n_2498573.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/annie-dillard-509_free-thought_she-bade-solitude-good-bye-good-bye-to-n_2498573.jpg) > ““She bade solitude good-bye. Good-bye to no schedule but whim; good-bye to her life among no things but her own and each always in place; good-bye to no real meals, good-bye free thought. The whole fat flock of them flapped away. But what was solitude for if not to foster decency? Her solitude always held open house. when was the last time anyone needed her? She was eager to do it, whatever it was.”” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on how solitude can become a social space, inviting others rather than isolating oneself, and questions the purpose of loneliness. **In simple terms:** Solitude can be a welcoming place for others. Key Takeaway Use solitude to connect, not just withdraw. Themes solitude connection purpose hospitality Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal retreat - creative writing - mental health - community building Key Concepts social dynamics existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - How can you make your alone time meaningful? - What does hospitality mean in solitude? A Different Perspective Solitude may become empty if it lacks genuine interaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bade Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bade-solitude-1037481/) [Decency Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decency-solitude-1037482/) [Free thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-thought/) [Last time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-time/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Solitude Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude-good-1037480/) [Solitude Held](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude-held-1037483/) ## Related quotes > [I like solitude. I'm very good at being disconnected. I do a lot of disappearing. People who know me go, 'Oh yeah, Mailman, she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-mailman/i-like-solitude-i-m-very-good-at-being-disconnected-i-do-a-lot-of/) [Deborah Mailman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-mailman/) > [Letter writing is the only device combining solitude with good company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/letter-writing-is-the-only-device-combining-solitude-with-good-company/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“Composing a letter is a way to combine solitude with good company.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/composing-a-letter-is-a-way-to-combine-solitude-with-good-company/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [I had to learn - since I'm divorced now and everyone is like, 'Oh my God, you're single, what's going on?' - that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-union/i-had-to-learn-since-i-m-divorced-now-and-everyone-is-like-oh-my-god/) [Gabrielle Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-union/) > [Only in intimate communion with solitude may man find himself. Solitude is good company and my architecture is not for those who fear or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-barragan/only-in-intimate-communion-with-solitude-may-man-find-himself/) [Luis Barragan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-barragan/) > [Solitude is good in the evening. Dublin is a quiet city when you get to a certain age, when your friends settle down and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/solitude-is-good-in-the-evening-dublin-is-a-quiet-city-when-you-get/) [Colm Toibin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/) > [Solitude is only a good idea if you have the right people along to share it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcdevitt/solitude-is-only-a-good-idea-if-you-have-the-right-people-along-to/) [Jack McDevitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-mcdevitt/) > [“It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living. 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Either one is free or one is not. One is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/freedom-is-not-an-idea-a-philosophy-written-about-freedom-is-not/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I deny the right of Congress to force a slaveholding State upon an unwilling people. I deny their right to force a free State…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-douglas/i-deny-the-right-of-congress-to-force-a-slaveholding-state-upon-an/) [Stephen A. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-douglas/) > [“Try a little experiment. Close your eyes and say to yourself: “I wonder what my next thought is going to be.” Then become very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/try-a-little-experiment-close-your-eyes-and-say-to-yourself-i-wonder/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Bertrand Russell:   The expression “free thought” is often used as if it meant merely opposition to the prevailing orthodoxy. But this is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-m-s-pearce/bertrand-russell-the-expression-free-thought-is-often-used-as-if-it/) [Jonathan M.S. Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-m-s-pearce/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) [Explore all 509 Annie Dillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More Free thought quotes > [“Bertrand Russell:   The expression “free thought” is often used as if it meant merely opposition to the prevailing orthodoxy. But this is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-m-s-pearce/bertrand-russell-the-expression-free-thought-is-often-used-as-if-it/) [Jonathan M.S. Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-m-s-pearce/) > [“Try a little experiment. Close your eyes and say to yourself: “I wonder what my next thought is going to be.” Then become very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/try-a-little-experiment-close-your-eyes-and-say-to-yourself-i-wonder/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [I deny the right of Congress to force a slaveholding State upon an unwilling people. I deny their right to force a free State…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-douglas/i-deny-the-right-of-congress-to-force-a-slaveholding-state-upon-an/) [Stephen A. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-douglas/) > [“Freedom is not an idea; a philosophy written about freedom is not freedom. Either one is free or one is not. One is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/freedom-is-not-an-idea-a-philosophy-written-about-freedom-is-not/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I was ready to talk about... and I'm ready to die on the hills of due process, individualism, and free thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/i-was-ready-to-talk-about-and-i-m-ready-to-die-on-the-hills-of-due/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) > [Our thoughts are free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/our-thoughts-are-free/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [It should seem that Negroes, of all Americans, would be found in the Free-thought fold, since they have suffered more than any other class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-harrison/it-should-seem-that-negroes-of-all-americans-would-be-found-in-the/) [Hubert Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-harrison/) > [“It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living. It is clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/it-is-clear-that-thought-is-not-free-if-the-profession-of-certain-2/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [You behold in me, Stephen said with grim displeasure, a horrible example of free thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/you-behold-in-me-stephen-said-with-grim-displeasure-a-horrible/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [To later Romans Ennius was the personification of the spirit of early Rome; by them he was called "The Father of Roman Poetry." We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintus-ennius/to-later-romans-ennius-was-the-personification-of-the-spirit-of-early/) [Quintus Ennius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintus-ennius/) > [To speak his thoughts is every freeman's right, in peace and war, in council and in fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/to-speak-his-thoughts-is-every-freeman-s-right-in-peace-and-war-in/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“We, when we sow the seeds of doubt deeper than the most up-to-date and modish free-thought has ever dreamed of doing, we well know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/we-when-we-sow-the-seeds-of-doubt-deeper-than-the-most-up-to-date-and/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“Disease, and most specially opprobrious, suppressed, secret disease, creates a certain critical opposition to the world, to mediocre life, disposes a man to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/disease-and-most-specially-opprobrious-suppressed-secret-disease/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/it-is-our-attitude-toward-free-thought-and-free-expression-that-will/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [To those who are trained in science, creationism seems a bad dream, a sudden coming back to life of a nightmare, a renewed march…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/to-those-who-are-trained-in-science-creationism-seems-a-bad-dream-a/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) [Browse all 122 Free thought quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-thought/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She bade solitude good-bye. Good-bye to no schedule but whim; good-bye to her life among no things but her own and each always in place; good-bye to no real meals, good-bye free thought. The whole fat flock of them flapped away. 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