--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once you have lived with another, it is a…" description: "\"Once you have lived with another, it is a great torture to have to live alone.\" — Carson McCullers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png" --- # Once you have lived with another, it is a great torture to… ![“Once you have lived with another, it is a great torture to have to live alone.” quote by Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png) > “Once you have lived with another, it is a great torture to have to live alone.” [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living with another can create deep emotional bonds, making solitude feel painful and oppressive. **In simple terms:** Living with someone makes being alone painful. Key Takeaway Cherish shared connections. Themes loneliness relationships emotional pain Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - marriage - roommates - long‑distance relationships - grief counseling Key Concepts attachment dependency intimacy Questions to Reflect On - How does companionship affect your well‑being? - Can solitude be restorative? A Different Perspective Some find solitude enriching. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-torture-2481734/) [Live alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-alone/) [Lived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lived/) [Lived Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lived-great-1310334/) [Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture/) [Torture Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture-live-3303495/) ## Related quotes > [Thinking is a great joy for a good writer and a great torture for the bad one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/thinking-is-a-great-joy-for-a-good-writer-and-a-great-torture-for-the/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I've lived through the Great Depression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-reiner/i-ve-lived-through-the-great-depression/) [Carl Reiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-reiner/) > [Trace Adkins doesn't talk too much, but when he does he's got great stories. He's lived a great life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/trace-adkins-doesn-t-talk-too-much-but-when-he-does-he-s-got-great/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/i-have-lived-a-great-deal-among-grown-ups-i-have-seen-them-intimately/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [As a young man, I lived through the Great Depression, when banks failed and so many lost their jobs and homes and went hungry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/as-a-young-man-i-lived-through-the-great-depression-when-banks-failed/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [“and his youngest sister, Henrietta, lived to a great age, also beside the sea, with a vast collection of cats—having previously traveled around England…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/and-his-youngest-sister-henrietta-lived-to-a-great-age-also-beside/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [“There lived great souls in history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/there-lived-great-souls-in-history/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [People say, 'What if your name was Niki Smith?' Well, if Niki Smith lived the life I've lived, it would have great bearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niki-tsongas/people-say-what-if-your-name-was-niki-smith-well-if-niki-smith-lived/) [Niki Tsongas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niki-tsongas/) > [I have lived a great life. I am very happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/i-have-lived-a-great-life-i-am-very-happy/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [I've lived such a great, fantastic life already, but there's still so much more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/i-ve-lived-such-a-great-fantastic-life-already-but-there-s-still-so/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [He was of an impressible nature, and lived a great deal in other people's opinions and feelings concerning himself...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/he-was-of-an-impressible-nature-and-lived-a-great-deal-in-other/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [My mother lived through the Great Depression. Her family of 11 children pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and moved to wherever there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-norris/my-mother-lived-through-the-great-depression-her-family-of-11/) [Chuck Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-norris/) > [“In the end, it’s true, we each must die alone, but the love and friendship we share with one another show that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-bushkin/in-the-end-it-s-true-we-each-must-die-alone-but-the-love-and/) [Henry Bushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-bushkin/) > [I live alone so I always just eat out. When I'm in another relationship, then maybe we'll start cooking together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-booth/i-live-alone-so-i-always-just-eat-out-when-i-m-in-another/) [Douglas Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-booth/) > [“I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired. I wanted to live alone,I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-was-like-a-turd-that-drew-flies-instead-of-like-a-flower-that/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More by Carson McCullers > [“Because things accumulate around your name," said Berenice. "You have a name and one thing after another happens to you, and you behave in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/because-things-accumulate-around-your-name-said-berenice-you-have-a/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [It was like she was cheated. Only nobody had cheated her. So there was nobody to take it out on. However, just the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-was-like-she-was-cheated-only-nobody-had-cheated-her-so-there-was/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Love is a joint experience between two persons—but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/love-is-a-joint-experience-between-two-persons-but-the-fact-that-it/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [The thinking mind is best controlled by the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-thinking-mind-is-best-controlled-by-the-imagination/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“He was like a man who had served a term in prison or had been to Harvard College or had left for a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/he-was-like-a-man-who-had-served-a-term-in-prison-or-had-been-to/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [Comparing the Brooklyn that I know with Manhattan is like comparing a comfortable and complacent duenna to her more brilliant and neurotic sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/comparing-the-brooklyn-that-i-know-with-manhattan-is-like-comparing-a/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Son, do you know how love should be begun?" The boy sat small and listening and still. Slowly he shook his head. The old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/son-do-you-know-how-love-should-be-begun-the-boy-sat-small-and/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [The most fatal thing a man can do is try to stand alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-most-fatal-thing-a-man-can-do-is-try-to-stand-alone/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [The dimensions of a work of art are seldom realized by the author until the work is accomplished. It is like a flowering dream.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/the-dimensions-of-a-work-of-art-are-seldom-realized-by-the-author/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [Now hoppin'-john was F. Jasmine's very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/now-hoppin-john-was-f-jasmine-s-very-favorite-food-she-had-always/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/there-s-nothing-that-makes-you-so-aware-of-the-improvisation-of-human/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Maybe when people longed for a thing that bad the longing made them trust in anything that might give it to them . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/maybe-when-people-longed-for-a-thing-that-bad-the-longing-made-them/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“But the music did not come again. The tune was left broken, unfinished. And the drawn tightness she could no longer stand. She felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/but-the-music-did-not-come-again-the-tune-was-left-broken-unfinished/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“...we must remember that we all make the things of this earth of value because of labor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/we-must-remember-that-we-all-make-the-things-of-this-earth-of-value/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [I have more to say than Hemingway, and God knows, I say it better than Faulkner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/i-have-more-to-say-than-hemingway-and-god-knows-i-say-it-better-than/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) [Explore all 211 Carson McCullers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) ## More Live alone quotes > [“I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired. I wanted to live alone,I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-was-like-a-turd-that-drew-flies-instead-of-like-a-flower-that/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I live alone so I always just eat out. When I'm in another relationship, then maybe we'll start cooking together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-booth/i-live-alone-so-i-always-just-eat-out-when-i-m-in-another/) [Douglas Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-booth/) > [“In the end, it’s true, we each must die alone, but the love and friendship we share with one another show that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-bushkin/in-the-end-it-s-true-we-each-must-die-alone-but-the-love-and/) [Henry Bushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-bushkin/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Sometimes special people come into your life only to teach you how to live alone without them. Sad but true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-special-people-come-into-your-life-only-to-teach-you-how-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude To live alone, an isolated thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/dar-st-thou-amid-the-varied-multitude-to-live-alone-an-isolated-thing/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Many divorced or widowed people do with their singleness what they should have done before they married for the first time: live alone, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harville-hendrix/many-divorced-or-widowed-people-do-with-their-singleness-what-they/) [Harville Hendrix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harville-hendrix/) > [“Like a great ship, this season has run aground. Dawn and dusk alternate at an old man's pace. I live alone in an area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ge-fei/like-a-great-ship-this-season-has-run-aground-dawn-and-dusk-alternate/) [Ge Fei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ge-fei/) > [“Used to live alone in a tomb I made my own, but now I’ve gone and given up my coat. And it’s cold outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-michaelson/used-to-live-alone-in-a-tomb-i-made-my-own-but-now-i-ve-gone-and/) [Ingrid Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-michaelson/) > [Human beings are not meant to live alone. There is a fundamental biological imperative that propels you and every organism on this planet to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-h-lipton/human-beings-are-not-meant-to-live-alone-there-is-a-fundamental/) [Bruce H. Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-h-lipton/) > [There is no greater joy than to live alone and unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-greater-joy-than-to-live-alone-and-unknown/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you live alone you no longer know what it is to tell a story: the plausible disappears at the same time as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/when-you-live-alone-you-no-longer-know-what-it-is-to-tell-a-story-the/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Man was not intended to live alone... marriage is the best cure for that wretched lingering over one's work. I think I must feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-everett-millais/man-was-not-intended-to-live-alone-marriage-is-the-best-cure-for-that/) [John Everett Millais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-everett-millais/) > [“Leave your life. Leave everyone you love, every care, every stress, every commitment. Live alone. Understand what it feels like to know that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-carlino/leave-your-life-leave-everyone-you-love-every-care-every-stress-every/) [Renée Carlino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-carlino/) > [The ordinary marriage is an unconscious bondage: you cannot live alone so you become dependent on the other; the other cannot live alone so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-ordinary-marriage-is-an-unconscious-bondage-you-cannot-live-alone/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) [Browse all 251 Live alone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-alone/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once you have lived with another, it is a great torture to have to live alone.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carson McCullers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a-great-torture-to-have-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Live alone" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a-great-torture-to-have-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/carson-mccullers-1694_live-alone_once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a_1969994.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once you have lived with another, it is a great torture to have to live alone.” — Carson McCullers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Carson McCullers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Once you have lived with another,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a-great-torture-to-have-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/once-you-have-lived-with-another-it-is-a-great-torture-to-have-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```