--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We need sometimes to escape into open…" description: "\"We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard in order to sharpen the edge of l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg" --- # We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into… ![“We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg) > “We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Occasionally withdrawing into solitude and aimlessness can sharpen one's perception of life's challenges and motivate intense effort. **In simple terms:** Solitude and aimlessness can sharpen life's edge and motivate effort. Key Takeaway Embrace occasional solitude for clarity. Themes philosophy solitude motivation Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - creative blocks - stress - personal growth - decision making Key Concepts existentialism psychology creative spark Questions to Reflect On - When does solitude help you focus? - How can aimlessness be productive? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aimlessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aimlessness/) [Aimlessness Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aimlessness-moral-4246093/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship/) [Hardship Compelled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship-compelled-4246092/) [Hazards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hazards/) [Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holiday/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-holiday-1297057/) [Need Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-escape-334833/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Open Solitudes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-solitudes-4246094/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taste/) ## Related quotes > [Thanksgiving, our eminent moral holiday, doesnt have much for children. At its heart are conversation, food, drink, and fellowship - all perks of adulthood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosecrans-baldwin/thanksgiving-our-eminent-moral-holiday-doesnt-have-much-for-children/) [Rosecrans Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosecrans-baldwin/) > [“You cannot have a moral holiday and remain moral, nor can you have a spiritual holiday and remain spiritual. God wants you to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/you-cannot-have-a-moral-holiday-and-remain-moral-nor-can-you-have-a/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [Thanksgiving, our eminent moral holiday, doesn't have much for children. At its heart are conversation, food, drink, and fellowship - all perks of adulthood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosecrans-baldwin/thanksgiving-our-eminent-moral-holiday-doesn-t-have-much-for-children/) [Rosecrans Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosecrans-baldwin/) > [When I was in college, I remember fearing that the dreary grind of adulthood would feature infinitely more existential dread than frat parties had,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/when-i-was-in-college-i-remember-fearing-that-the-dreary-grind-of/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Freedom doesn't mean aimlessness. We can't just sleepwalk through life… Freedom demands structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/freedom-doesn-t-mean-aimlessness-we-can-t-just-sleepwalk-through-life/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Mental tensions, frustrations, insecurity, aimlessness are among the most damaging stressors, and psychosomatic studies have shown how often they cause migraine headache, peptic ulcers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-selye/mental-tensions-frustrations-insecurity-aimlessness-are-among-the/) [Hans Selye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-selye/) > [A manuscript under way always gave me something to do; only while enduring the aimlessness between books was I truly glum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/a-manuscript-under-way-always-gave-me-something-to-do-only-while/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“One who gossips usually carries boredom in one hand and bitterness in the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/one-who-gossips-usually-carries-boredom-in-one-hand-and-bitterness-in/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“One foot in front of the other, more aimless than direct, Bradford left the waiting room for the outside world. Called for a taxi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-stevens/one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-more-aimless-than-direct-bradford-left/) [Taylor Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-stevens/) > [The more I read, the less I admire modern theology. the more I study the productions of the new schools of theological teachers, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/the-more-i-read-the-less-i-admire-modern-theology-the-more-i-study/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [“I’m sure he doesn’t see it as aimless. We all have different goals. His are achievable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cotterill/i-m-sure-he-doesn-t-see-it-as-aimless-we-all-have-different-goals-his/) [Colin Cotterill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cotterill/) > [There is an ideal standard somewhere and only that matters and I cannot find it. Hence the aimlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/there-is-an-ideal-standard-somewhere-and-only-that-matters-and-i/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“Without purpose, we're zombies aimlessly roaming the earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-mostafa/without-purpose-we-re-zombies-aimlessly-roaming-the-earth/) [Ahmed Mostafa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-mostafa/) > [Rome has New York's formlessness, aimlessness, a kind of hard-boiled sophistication, blase about everything. In their filmmaking, too, the Italians have this tongue-in-cheek sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-morrissey/rome-has-new-york-s-formlessness-aimlessness-a-kind-of-hard-boiled/) [Paul Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-morrissey/) > [“Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/aimlessness-is-a-vice-and-such-drifting-must-not-continue-for-him-who/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Aimlessness quotes > [“Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/aimlessness-is-a-vice-and-such-drifting-must-not-continue-for-him-who/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [Rome has New York's formlessness, aimlessness, a kind of hard-boiled sophistication, blase about everything. In their filmmaking, too, the Italians have this tongue-in-cheek sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-morrissey/rome-has-new-york-s-formlessness-aimlessness-a-kind-of-hard-boiled/) [Paul Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-morrissey/) > [“Without purpose, we're zombies aimlessly roaming the earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-mostafa/without-purpose-we-re-zombies-aimlessly-roaming-the-earth/) [Ahmed Mostafa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-mostafa/) > [There is an ideal standard somewhere and only that matters and I cannot find it. Hence the aimlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/there-is-an-ideal-standard-somewhere-and-only-that-matters-and-i/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“I’m sure he doesn’t see it as aimless. We all have different goals. His are achievable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cotterill/i-m-sure-he-doesn-t-see-it-as-aimless-we-all-have-different-goals-his/) [Colin Cotterill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cotterill/) > [The more I read, the less I admire modern theology. the more I study the productions of the new schools of theological teachers, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/the-more-i-read-the-less-i-admire-modern-theology-the-more-i-study/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [“One foot in front of the other, more aimless than direct, Bradford left the waiting room for the outside world. Called for a taxi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-stevens/one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-more-aimless-than-direct-bradford-left/) [Taylor Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-stevens/) > [“One who gossips usually carries boredom in one hand and bitterness in the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/one-who-gossips-usually-carries-boredom-in-one-hand-and-bitterness-in/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [A manuscript under way always gave me something to do; only while enduring the aimlessness between books was I truly glum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/a-manuscript-under-way-always-gave-me-something-to-do-only-while/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Mental tensions, frustrations, insecurity, aimlessness are among the most damaging stressors, and psychosomatic studies have shown how often they cause migraine headache, peptic ulcers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-selye/mental-tensions-frustrations-insecurity-aimlessness-are-among-the/) [Hans Selye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-selye/) > [Freedom doesn't mean aimlessness. We can't just sleepwalk through life… Freedom demands structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/freedom-doesn-t-mean-aimlessness-we-can-t-just-sleepwalk-through-life/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [When I was in college, I remember fearing that the dreary grind of adulthood would feature infinitely more existential dread than frat parties had,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/when-i-was-in-college-i-remember-fearing-that-the-dreary-grind-of/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/over-time-grit-is-what-separates-fruitful-lives-from-aimlessness/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Yet if there's no reason to live without a child, how could there be with one? To answer one life with a successive life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/yet-if-there-s-no-reason-to-live-without-a-child-how-could-there-be/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“How I would like to have them back, those pointless afternoons - the boredom, the aimlessness, the unformed possibilities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/how-i-would-like-to-have-them-back-those-pointless-afternoons-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Browse all 16 Aimlessness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aimlessness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Santayana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-solitudes-into-aimlessness-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aimlessness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-solitudes-into-aimlessness-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/424/george-santayana-478_aimlessness_we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-so_497847.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some…” — George Santayana", "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": "George Santayana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We need sometimes to escape into...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-solitudes-into-aimlessness-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/we-need-sometimes-to-escape-into-open-solitudes-into-aimlessness-into/#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 } } ] } ```