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 Guilt Copy Share Image
“One’s desire to be alone, biologists have found, is partially genetic and to some degree measurable. If you have low levels of… — Michael Finkel Low level Copy Share Image
“He was never once bored. He wasn’t sure, he said, that he even understood the concept of boredom. It applied only to… — Michael Finkel Art of life 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
“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
“reaching through time and speaking directly to him: Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground. “I recognize myself” — Michael Finkel Notes from the underground Copy Share Image
“Even Henry David Thoreau, not known for kvetching, wrote in The Maine Woods that he was “seriously molested” by bugs.” — Michael Finkel David thoreau 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
You can read my stuff; there are not very many quotes. It's more impressionistic. — Michael Finkel Many Copy Share Image
“Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick, largely withdrew from public life for thirty years. “All profound things,” he wrote, “are preceded and… — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
I committed pretty much the worst thing you can do, which is defraud the readers. — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
“Two of life’s greatest pleasures, by my reckoning, are camping and reading—most gloriously, both at once.” — Michael Finkel Life 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
“Asperger felt that autistic people could have beneficial talents, especially what he called a “particular originality of thought” that was often beautiful… — Michael Finkel Creativity Copy Share Image
“Tao Te Ching says that it is only through retreat rather than pursuit, through inaction rather than action, that we acquire wisdom.… — Michael Finkel Thousand years Copy Share Image
“There was no one to complain to in the woods, so I did not complain,' Knight said.” — Michael Finkel Solitude Copy Share Image
“If you’re born a human oddity,” says the introductory chapter of Very Special People, “every day of your life, starting in infancy,… — Michael Finkel Every day 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
“Our genus, Homo, arose two and a half million years ago, and for more than ninety-nine percent of human existence, we all… — Michael Finkel Human existence 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 Life Copy Share Image
“Not till we have lost the world,” wrote Thoreau, “do we begin to find ourselves.” — 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 Conditions Copy Share Image
“Virtually every natural feature in Maine, pond to peak, has a proper name, but Knight saw such titles as human impositions and… — Michael Finkel Nature 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
“Our whole lives, Jefferies said, are wasted traveling in endless small circles; we are all “chained like a horse to an iron… — Michael Finkel Life Copy Share Image
