--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Before that experience, I had often felt…" description: "\"“Before that experience, I had often felt the kind of alone that comes from the suspicion that you are not only genetically different from those around..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/jillian-lauren-24337_loneliness_before-that-experience-i-had-often-felt_735731.jpg" --- # Before that experience, I had often felt the kind of alone… ![“Before that experience, I had often felt the kind of alone that comes from the suspicion that you are not only genetically different from those around you, but different in your very soul...[then] I was a different kind of alone. I was alone and ashamed of myself...it was no one's fault but mine.” quote by Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/jillian-lauren-24337_loneliness_before-that-experience-i-had-often-felt_735731.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/jillian-lauren-24337_loneliness_before-that-experience-i-had-often-felt_735731.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/jillian-lauren-24337_loneliness_before-that-experience-i-had-often-felt_735731.jpg) > ““Before that experience, I had often felt the kind of alone that comes from the suspicion that you are not only genetically different from those around you, but different in your very soul...\[then\] I was a different kind of alone. I was alone and ashamed of myself...it was no one's fault but mine.”” [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Feeling different genetically and spiritually leads to a deep, shameful isolation that one must own. **In simple terms:** Feeling different causes shameful isolation. Key Takeaway Own your feelings and seek connection. Themes identity isolation shame self-awareness Mood reflective somber Type personal psychological When to use this quote - personal crisis - therapy sessions - college dorm life - online communities Key Concepts existential psychology self-acceptance Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing personal fault change your view of isolation? - What steps can you take to connect with others? A Different Perspective Isolation can be mitigated by supportive relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashamed Fault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed-fault-5752987/) [Different Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-soul-4935417/) [Experience Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-felt-487960/) [Felt Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-kind-386481/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Soul Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul-different-933558/) ## Related quotes > [The intellect must be different from the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-adamson/the-intellect-must-be-different-from-the-soul/) [Peter Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-adamson/) > [The dreams you craft at the level of your soul are very different from goals, which are tangible, measurable and set the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-villoldo/the-dreams-you-craft-at-the-level-of-your-soul-are-very-different/) [Alberto Villoldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-villoldo/) > [But flowers feed our soul in a different way. They remind us of a God who creates beautiful things and takes notice of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tricia-goyer/but-flowers-feed-our-soul-in-a-different-way-they-remind-us-of-a-god/) [Tricia Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tricia-goyer/) > [Body and soul are not two different things, but only two different ways of perceiving the same thing. Similarly, physics and psychology are only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/body-and-soul-are-not-two-different-things-but-only-two-different/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Body and soul. Two different things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/body-and-soul-two-different-things/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [I think soul is soul. I don't see new soul as any different to old soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paloma-faith/i-think-soul-is-soul-i-don-t-see-new-soul-as-any-different-to-old-soul/) [Paloma Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paloma-faith/) > [“You care. Not the cares of the body. But you have the caring of the soul. It's a different kind of desire, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-care-not-the-cares-of-the-body-but-you-have-the-caring-of-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Things have different qualities, and the soul different inclinations; for nothing is simple which is presented to the soul, and the soul never presents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/things-have-different-qualities-and-the-soul-different-inclinations/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The great poems are not about experience, but are the experience itself, felt in the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/the-great-poems-are-not-about-experience-but-are-the-experience/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [“Nick leaned in and our lips met. It really was an out-of-body experience. I had never felt that shocking feeling that starts in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-ames/nick-leaned-in-and-our-lips-met-it-really-was-an-out-of-body/) [John H. Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-ames/) > [My step-dad started playing hockey in Detroit so we moved and I had to start home school. I started watching movies since I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-r-mcqueen/my-step-dad-started-playing-hockey-in-detroit-so-we-moved-and-i-had/) [Steven R. McQueen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-r-mcqueen/) > [“I don't give a damn about you now, but it was a new experience for me and I felt a little dizzy for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-don-t-give-a-damn-about-you-now-but-it-was-a-new-experience-for-me/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I guess everyone's had an experience when they felt overlooked, ditched, hurt or taken for granted. Where they felt like the only one behaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-purser/i-guess-everyone-s-had-an-experience-when-they-felt-overlooked/) [Shannon Purser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-purser/) > [My personal experience has felt unique in that I'm juggling the already-intensive demands of network coverage of the White House alongside my daily MSNBC…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hallie-jackson/my-personal-experience-has-felt-unique-in-that-i-m-juggling-the/) [Hallie Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hallie-jackson/) > [I wanted to go to university and experience something that I felt like I'd missed. I wanted to be around bright, intelligent young people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-paige/i-wanted-to-go-to-university-and-experience-something-that-i-felt/) [Yasmin Paige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-paige/) ## More by Jillian Lauren > [“And even if it wasn't Madison, it had been hundreds of others and probably hundreds more. That's what happens to your eyes when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/and-even-if-it-wasn-t-madison-it-had-been-hundreds-of-others-and/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [Life is a constant series of cleaning up the last mess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/life-is-a-constant-series-of-cleaning-up-the-last-mess/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“Regret perches like an umbrella over all of my days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/regret-perches-like-an-umbrella-over-all-of-my-days/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“The hitting was easy compared to the words. The hitting happened only infrequently but the words happened every day. I knew he was wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/the-hitting-was-easy-compared-to-the-words-the-hitting-happened-only/) [jillian lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“The air hangs thick with awkward static, like it usually does around the endless parade of therapists, social workers, and grief counselors. Does anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/the-air-hangs-thick-with-awkward-static-like-it-usually-does-around/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [I look for a sign. Where to go next. you never know when you'll get one. Even the most faithless among us are waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/i-look-for-a-sign-where-to-go-next-you-never-know-when-you-ll-get-one/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“I'm too proud to admit that I was forgotten, even to the guy who did the forgetting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/i-m-too-proud-to-admit-that-i-was-forgotten-even-to-the-guy-who-did/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“You have to be careful how you fake it, though, because things like that can stick and before you know it you become what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/you-have-to-be-careful-how-you-fake-it-though-because-things-like/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“I was sure that if I could just scale this fortress I would reach a height with a sunny blue sky and fresh air.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/i-was-sure-that-if-i-could-just-scale-this-fortress-i-would-reach-a/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [Fall and I'll catch you. And that was all I'd ever wanted, someone to catch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/fall-and-i-ll-catch-you-and-that-was-all-i-d-ever-wanted-someone-to/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“Dancing was another one of those choice I made that I didn't know until way later what it really meant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/dancing-was-another-one-of-those-choice-i-made-that-i-didn-t-know/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“Like people touch the feet of Jesus on the Pieta and hope for a blessing, I would touch the feet of the dancer and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/like-people-touch-the-feet-of-jesus-on-the-pieta-and-hope-for-a/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“Girls at war opt for a quieter cruelty than fistfights and drive-by shootings. Girls circumvent the corporeal and go straight for each other's souls.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/girls-at-war-opt-for-a-quieter-cruelty-than-fistfights-and-drive-by/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [I've always liked rooms where the party hasn't started yet...I love the feeling that anything could happen. After the party, when anything already has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/i-ve-always-liked-rooms-where-the-party-hasn-t-started-yet-i-love-the/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) > [“I love rooftops. I love a view from anywhere. Any vantage point from which you can see further than the immediate ground in front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-lauren/i-love-rooftops-i-love-a-view-from-anywhere-any-vantage-point-from/) [Jillian Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) [Explore all 24 Jillian Lauren quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-lauren/) ## More Loneliness quotes > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. How could there be God in loneliness when God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/hell-is-only-loneliness-a-place-without-play-for-the-soul-a-place/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/believe-to-the-end-even-if-all-men-went-astray-and-you-were-left-the/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [I'm not alone, but I am lonely without you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-alone-but-i-am-lonely-without-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-the-opposite-of-two-a-lonely-me-a-lonely-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We often refer to loneliness as something negative. And we look at it as a weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-shetty/we-often-refer-to-loneliness-as-something-negative-and-we-look-at-it/) [Jay Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-shetty/) > [I need the pain of loneliness to make my imagination work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-need-the-pain-of-loneliness-to-make-my-imagination-work/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-d-perry/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Don't let 'being single' make you feel like a loner. Its better to be alone. Relationships arent cures for loneliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-let-being-single-make-you-feel-like-a-loner-its-better-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings… Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/attempt-to-be-creative-for-the-joy-it-brings-select-something-like/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [Get away from me misery, get away from me loneliness, get away from me fake bitches I can't take the phoniness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/get-away-from-me-misery-get-away-from-me-loneliness-get-away-from-me/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) [Browse all 4,995 Loneliness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Before that experience, I had often felt the kind of alone that comes from the suspicion that you are not only genetically different from those around you, but different in your very soul...[then] I was a different kind of alone. 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