--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a…" description: "\"When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a lot of loneliness issues.\" — Elizabeth Berg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg" --- # When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a lot of loneliness… ![“When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a lot of loneliness issues.” quote by Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg) > “When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a lot of loneliness issues.” [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living alone in a big city can amplify feelings of isolation, requiring intentional connection and self‑care. **In simple terms:** Loneliness intensifies in big cities. Key Takeaway Seek community and nurture yourself. Themes loneliness urban life self‑care connection Mood empathetic hopeful Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - moving to a new city - remote work - single living - mental health support Key Concepts psychology urban studies Questions to Reflect On - How can you build meaningful ties? - What self‑care habits help combat loneliness? A Different Perspective City life can also offer many social opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alone/) [Chicago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chicago/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) ## Related quotes > [I lived in Chicago until I was about 12, and then I moved to Dallas until I was 19. So I think both were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-michael-foster/i-lived-in-chicago-until-i-was-about-12-and-then-i-moved-to-dallas/) [Scott Michael Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-michael-foster/) > [I went and lived in Chicago for a year , and I studied at the police academy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-oldman/i-went-and-lived-in-chicago-for-a-year-and-i-studied-at-the-police/) [Gary Oldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-oldman/) > [I love Chicago. I wouldn't be where I am now, and I certainly wouldn't have the confidence that I hope that I project, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamron-hall/i-love-chicago-i-wouldn-t-be-where-i-am-now-and-i-certainly-wouldn-t/) [Tamron Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamron-hall/) > [“Lived in Chicago, survived in New York, brooded in Detroit, floundered in lots of places, arrived here late, after living in libraries around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/lived-in-chicago-survived-in-new-york-brooded-in-detroit-floundered/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [My uncle was the town drunk - and we lived in Chicago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gobel/my-uncle-was-the-town-drunk-and-we-lived-in-chicago/) [George Gobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gobel/) > [I didn't live far from where Leopold and Loeb lived on Chicago's South Side, so I had heard about them as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-didn-t-live-far-from-where-leopold-and-loeb-lived-on-chicago-s/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [If youve ever lived in Chicago, anyone who has, they know what a winter in Chicago is like. To be going through a tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-dewyze/if-youve-ever-lived-in-chicago-anyone-who-has-they-know-what-a-winter/) [Lee DeWyze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-dewyze/) > [Even when I lived in Chicago and I didn't have any family there, I would just go like I would be a guest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-walsh/even-when-i-lived-in-chicago-and-i-didn-t-have-any-family-there-i/) [Kate Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-walsh/) > [When I lived in Chicago, it often felt like the same people who were going to all the little theater companies were the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-gunn/when-i-lived-in-chicago-it-often-felt-like-the-same-people-who-were/) [Sean Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-gunn/) > [If you've ever lived in Chicago, anyone who has, they know what a winter in Chicago is like. To be going through a tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-dewyze/if-you-ve-ever-lived-in-chicago-anyone-who-has-they-know-what-a/) [Lee DeWyze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-dewyze/) > [“be here. The Apex Valley was his home, even though he lived in Chicago. This was where he wanted to be, and for three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hodges/be-here-the-apex-valley-was-his-home-even-though-he-lived-in-chicago/) Michael Hodges > [I grew up in Evanston and lived in Chicago for a long time, in Old Town and Wrigleyville. I did three films when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cusack/i-grew-up-in-evanston-and-lived-in-chicago-for-a-long-time-in-old/) [John Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cusack/) > [When I lived in Chicago, I didn't like it. It's nice to visit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-kinane/when-i-lived-in-chicago-i-didn-t-like-it-it-s-nice-to-visit/) [Kyle Kinane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-kinane/) > [I lived in Chicago in the early '80s and did a ton of theater, and then Nick lived there in the '90s and did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mullally/i-lived-in-chicago-in-the-early-80s-and-did-a-ton-of-theater-and-then/) [Megan Mullally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mullally/) > [My wife and I lived in Chicago for two months, and we went to a lot of great restaurants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-vincent/my-wife-and-i-lived-in-chicago-for-two-months-and-we-went-to-a-lot-of/) [Frank Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-vincent/) ## More by Elizabeth Berg > [Never be afraid of doing the thing you know in your heart is right, even if others don't agree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/never-be-afraid-of-doing-the-thing-you-know-in-your-heart-is-right/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [If there were a category in the Olympics for laundry, my mother would have been a gold-medal winner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/if-there-were-a-category-in-the-olympics-for-laundry-my-mother-would/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“If you say something over and over again, it begins to lose it's meaning... Say anything enough times and it becomes gibberish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/if-you-say-something-over-and-over-again-it-begins-to-lose-it-s/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“You know, sometimes marriage is iron. Sometimes it’s tissue paper. And I think the times it’s tissue paper are when you need to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/you-know-sometimes-marriage-is-iron-sometimes-it-s-tissue-paper-and-i/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“It's not that he doesn't smile; it's that if his smile were something you drew, you'd erase it, thinking, Wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/it-s-not-that-he-doesn-t-smile-it-s-that-if-his-smile-were-something/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [People say you should give until it hurts. I say you should give until it stops hurting. Know what I mean?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/people-say-you-should-give-until-it-hurts-i-say-you-should-give-until/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I should have said “powder room.” That would evoke the image of me sitting before a beautiful gold mirror, a vase of fresh flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-should-have-said-powder-room-that-would-evoke-the-image-of-me/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [Sometimes the best reading comes just by accident. Someone talks about a book, or you're just wandering the stacks in the library, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/sometimes-the-best-reading-comes-just-by-accident-someone-talks-about/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I don’t think Martha’s so bad. I think I want her for a friend instead of you. When I look at her magazine, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-don-t-think-martha-s-so-bad-i-think-i-want-her-for-a-friend-instead/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [\*We give so little when it's in us always to give so much more. It's bothering to listen with an open heart to someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/we-give-so-little-when-it-s-in-us-always-to-give-so-much-more-it-s/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [We're not just writers; we're readers probably more than anything else. That's how you learn how to write and how you learn to appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/we-re-not-just-writers-we-re-readers-probably-more-than-anything-else/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [I thought of the priest who'd told me that many religions hold that it is easier to be closely connected to people we love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-thought-of-the-priest-who-d-told-me-that-many-religions-hold-that/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“How is it that we dare to honk at others in traffic, when we know nothing about where they have just come from or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/how-is-it-that-we-dare-to-honk-at-others-in-traffic-when-we-know/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [The truth is, we usually only show our unhappiness to another woman. I suppose this is one of our problems. And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/the-truth-is-we-usually-only-show-our-unhappiness-to-another-woman-i/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) [Explore all 350 Elizabeth Berg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## More Alone quotes > [I can be taken away from myself quite easily, I kind of start betraying myself and compromising my integrity, to keep someone else happy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-lou-wood/i-can-be-taken-away-from-myself-quite-easily-i-kind-of-start/) [Aimee Lou Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-lou-wood/) > [Perhaps our own opposition to even the level of European integration we have now, let alone any more, is well known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-farage/perhaps-our-own-opposition-to-even-the-level-of-european-integration/) [Nigel Farage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-farage/) > [If your goal is to look different, you'll see results faster with strength training than with cardio alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kaiser/if-your-goal-is-to-look-different-you-ll-see-results-faster-with/) [Anna Kaiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kaiser/) > [With my songs, the question is always, 'Can you pull it off live, alone on just an acoustic guitar?' 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I go to sleep when I'm tired, get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/i-should-have-liked-to-get-married-but-over-many-decades-i-have-lived/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [I am not alone in that I've had times of unemployment - unemployment is huge amongst disabled people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosie-jones/i-am-not-alone-in-that-i-ve-had-times-of-unemployment-unemployment-is/) [Rosie Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosie-jones/) > [I never knew a heart could feel so cold so empty so broken until now , I don't know what to say I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-never-knew-a-heart-could-feel-so-cold-so-empty-so-broken-until-now/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you're disabled or different from what general society deems normal, it's fine. There will always be people who won't accept you, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millicent-simmonds/if-you-re-disabled-or-different-from-what-general-society-deems/) [Millicent Simmonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millicent-simmonds/) > [Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience…A Journey With My Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luckybannu/real-love-is-a-permanently-self-enlarging-experience-a-journey-with/) Luckybannu > [“What I'm trying to say is that I spent the last four months learning to be alone, avoiding the world, hating pretty much anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-cremer/what-i-m-trying-to-say-is-that-i-spent-the-last-four-months-learning/) [Andrea Cremer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-cremer/) > [I'm used to being alone in a quiet, isolated environment - I'm kind of a low-energy, low-vibration, low-stamina person to begin with - so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-cain/i-m-used-to-being-alone-in-a-quiet-isolated-environment-i-m-kind-of-a/) [Ethel Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-cain/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I have developed a nasty habit of losing to the guy who wins the tournament, and that alone makes you think what you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-robertson/i-have-developed-a-nasty-habit-of-losing-to-the-guy-who-wins-the/) [Neil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-robertson/) > [As a child, I was this record collector/listener that would sit in a room and listen to the entire Beatles catalog alone, over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cornell/as-a-child-i-was-this-record-collector-listener-that-would-sit-in-a/) [Chris Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cornell/) > [How one hates to think of oneself as alone. How one avoids it. It seems to imply rejection or unpopularity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/how-one-hates-to-think-of-oneself-as-alone-how-one-avoids-it-it-seems/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) [Browse all 3,082 Alone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alone/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a lot of loneliness issues.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Berg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lot-of-loneliness-issues/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alone" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lot-of-loneliness-issues/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/elizabeth-berg-853_alone_when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lo_2152348.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I lived alone in Chicago, I had a lot of loneliness issues.” — Elizabeth Berg", "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": "Elizabeth Berg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When I lived alone in Chicago,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lot-of-loneliness-issues/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/when-i-lived-alone-in-chicago-i-had-a-lot-of-loneliness-issues/#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 } } ] } ```