--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Work did not destroy the loneliness; work…" description: "\"“Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog in which they moved so that they might not see the loneliness of each other”\" — Martha Ostenso" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg" --- # Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog… ![“Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog in which they moved so that they might not see the loneliness of each other” quote by Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg) > ““Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog in which they moved so that they might not see the loneliness of each other”” [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Work masks loneliness, creating a fog that prevents people from seeing each other's isolation. **In simple terms:** Work hides loneliness. Key Takeaway Seek genuine connection. Themes loneliness work social isolation perception Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - office environments - remote work - team building - mental health initiatives Key Concepts existentialism human connection psychological barriers Questions to Reflect On - How does work both conceal and reveal loneliness? - What practices foster authentic bonds? 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It’s okay to be madly in love with yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/truth-is-i-m-generally-happiest-when-it-s-just-me-it-s-okay-to-be/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) ## More by Martha Ostenso > [The lush green of the fields became a rich gold that swayed sturdily under the wind and fell at last before the hands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/the-lush-green-of-the-fields-became-a-rich-gold-that-swayed-sturdily/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [Time passed so much more slowly than space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/time-passed-so-much-more-slowly-than-space/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [Listen - man is a child of Nature. When he turns against his mother - he's done! He may not find out about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/listen-man-is-a-child-of-nature-when-he-turns-against-his-mother-he-s/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [There is too much doing - too little being! When we begin to get strenuous, life begins to grow intolerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/there-is-too-much-doing-too-little-being-when-we-begin-to-get/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [There was nothing so real on the prairie as winter, nothing so memorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/there-was-nothing-so-real-on-the-prairie-as-winter-nothing-so/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [It's remarkable - most remarkable, the way these people manage, from time to time, a tragedy or a near-tragedy to break the even tenor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/it-s-remarkable-most-remarkable-the-way-these-people-manage-from-time/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [once a man had thrust his hands into the soil and knew the grit of it between his teeth, he felt something rise within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/once-a-man-had-thrust-his-hands-into-the-soil-and-knew-the-grit-of-it/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [Religion is passionate, reckless, destructive, idol-smashing. It's a martyr burning at the stake. It's a crown of thorns and a cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/religion-is-passionate-reckless-destructive-idol-smashing-it-s-a/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [a man can break God's laws and be forgiven. That's what they teach us. But when he breaks Nature's laws, there's no forgiveness -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/a-man-can-break-god-s-laws-and-be-forgiven-that-s-what-they-teach-us/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [Here and there on the branch of an oak a congress of leaves still clung, rigid as flakes of bronze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/here-and-there-on-the-branch-of-an-oak-a-congress-of-leaves-still/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [You have stirred the soil with your plow, my friend. It will never be the same again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/you-have-stirred-the-soil-with-your-plow-my-friend-it-will-never-be/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [Growing old was simply a process of drawing closer to that ultimate independence called death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/growing-old-was-simply-a-process-of-drawing-closer-to-that-ultimate/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [God, what pathetic creatures had inherited the earth, to walk a little while with their eyes upon the stars and turn their gaze too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/god-what-pathetic-creatures-had-inherited-the-earth-to-walk-a-little/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [Ah, life, life, how madly, how cruelly it raced along your pulses!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/ah-life-life-how-madly-how-cruelly-it-raced-along-your-pulses/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [I don't see as it matters much how well you mean if it's harm you're doin'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/i-don-t-see-as-it-matters-much-how-well-you-mean-if-it-s-harm-you-re/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) [Explore all 25 Martha Ostenso quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) ## More Loneliness quotes > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. 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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": "“Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog in which they moved so that they might not see the loneliness of each other”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martha Ostenso" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work-was-only-a-fog-in-which-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Loneliness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work-was-only-a-fog-in-which-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf8/martha-ostenso-23577_loneliness_work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work_882135.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog in which they moved so that they might not see the…” — Martha Ostenso", "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": "Martha Ostenso", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Work did not destroy the loneliness;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work-was-only-a-fog-in-which-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/work-did-not-destroy-the-loneliness-work-was-only-a-fog-in-which-they/#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 } } ] } ```