--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone is isolated from everyone else…" description: "\"Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the knowledge of that isolation. A fiction that se..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg" --- # Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of… ![“Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the knowledge of that isolation. A fiction that serves as an anesthetic.” quote by Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg) > “Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the knowledge of that isolation. A fiction that serves as an anesthetic.” [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings experience fundamental separateness; societal structures mask this reality, providing comfort and distraction from the truth of isolation. **In simple terms:** Society cushions the pain of inherent isolation. Key Takeaway Social constructs hide existential loneliness. Themes existentialism social critique psychology philosophy human condition Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - contemplating personal relationships - analyzing cultural narratives - discussing mental health - examining political systems Key Concepts isolation social illusion comfort mechanisms existential truth Practical Applications - psychotherapy - social policy design Questions to Reflect On - How does society's illusion affect personal authenticity? - What happens when the cushion is removed? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Isolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [The worst thing someone gets is isolated. Isolation is the darkest part of any condition. You can live with almost any condition if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/the-worst-thing-someone-gets-is-isolated-isolation-is-the-darkest/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-more-isolated-a-person-is-the-more-destructive-will-be-the-power/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [The sick individual finds himself at home with all other similarly sick individuals. The whole culture is geared to this kind of pathology. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-sick-individual-finds-himself-at-home-with-all-other-similarly-2/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [The reduced variability of small populations is not always due to accidental gene loss, but sometimes to the fact that the entire population was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-reduced-variability-of-small-populations-is-not-always-due-to/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [“It's sad that in a world of billions, people can still feel isolated and alone. Sometimes all it takes to brighten up someone's day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-hick/it-s-sad-that-in-a-world-of-billions-people-can-still-feel-isolated/) [Shaun Hick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-hick/) > [A new species develops if a population which has become geographically isolated from its parental species acquires during this period of isolation characters which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/a-new-species-develops-if-a-population-which-has-become/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [Isolation means a lack of growth. I grew up in China at a time when the country was completely isolated. That era is over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhang-xin/isolation-means-a-lack-of-growth-i-grew-up-in-china-at-a-time-when/) [Zhang Xin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhang-xin/) > [“Energetically speaking, antimatter is the mirror image of matter, so the two instantly cancel each other out if they come in contact. Keeping antimatter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/energetically-speaking-antimatter-is-the-mirror-image-of-matter-so/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [If diphtheria is a disease caused by a microorganism, it is essential that three postulates be fulfilled. The fulfilment of these postulates is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-loeffler/if-diphtheria-is-a-disease-caused-by-a-microorganism-it-is-essential/) Friedrich Loeffler > [Action, as distinguished from fabrication, is never possible in isolation; to be isolated is to be deprived of the capacity to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/action-as-distinguished-from-fabrication-is-never-possible-in/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [I have become convinced that the more wealth a country accumulates, the more isolated and lonely its people become. The loneliest are usually the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wess-stafford/i-have-become-convinced-that-the-more-wealth-a-country-accumulates/) [Wess Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wess-stafford/) > [“The trick is not to be isolated―if you're isolated, like Winston Smith in 1984, then sooner or later you're going to break, as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-trick-is-not-to-be-isolated-if-you-re-isolated-like-winston-smith/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Every isolated passion, is, in isolation, insane; sanity may be defined as synthesis of insanities. Every dominant passion generates a dominant fear, the fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/every-isolated-passion-is-in-isolation-insane-sanity-may-be-defined/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [We are not isolated islands, we are connected links in a chain. Each kind word, each smiling face, each good action, benefits our neighbor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/we-are-not-isolated-islands-we-are-connected-links-in-a-chain-each/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [I'm not an isolated person. The more I connect to people, the more I have the feeling that things work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raf-simons/i-m-not-an-isolated-person-the-more-i-connect-to-people-the-more-i/) [Raf Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raf-simons/) ## More by Paul Bowles > [“When I was young” … “Before I was twenty, I mean, I used to think that life was a thing that kept gaining impetus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/when-i-was-young-before-i-was-twenty-i-mean-i-used-to-think-that-life/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [A black star appears, a point of darkness in the night sky's clarity. Point of darkness and gateway to repose. Reach out, pierce the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/a-black-star-appears-a-point-of-darkness-in-the-night-sky-s-clarity/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [We've never managed, either one of us, to get all the way into life. We're hanging on to the outside for all we're worth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/we-ve-never-managed-either-one-of-us-to-get-all-the-way-into-life-we/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [Illness reduces man to his basic state: a cloaca in which the chemical processes continue. The meaningless hegemony of the involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/illness-reduces-man-to-his-basic-state-a-cloaca-in-which-the-chemical/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“You know what?” he said with great earnestness. “I think we’re both afraid of the same thing. And for the same reason. We’ve never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/you-know-what-he-said-with-great-earnestness-i-think-we-re-both/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“... how could any young man merely sit back and wait for divine justice to take its course? It was asking the impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/how-could-any-young-man-merely-sit-back-and-wait-for-divine-justice/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“There could be nothing, he reflected, to equal a government which was simply the honest enforcement, by means of the sword, of the laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/there-could-be-nothing-he-reflected-to-equal-a-government-which-was/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [Not all the ravages caused by our merciless age are tangible ones. The subtler forms of destruction, those involving only the human spirit, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/not-all-the-ravages-caused-by-our-merciless-age-are-tangible-ones-the/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“What a wonderful thing to be an American!" he said impetuously. "Yes," said Dyar automatically, never having given much thought to what it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/what-a-wonderful-thing-to-be-an-american-he-said-impetuously-yes-said/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“How peaceful it was, with the light evening breeze stirring the small leaves of the grapevine that clustered around the electric bulb, making the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/how-peaceful-it-was-with-the-light-evening-breeze-stirring-the-small/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/because-we-don-t-know-when-we-will-die-we-get-to-think-of-life-as-an/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [She was saved from prettiness by the intensity of her gaze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/she-was-saved-from-prettiness-by-the-intensity-of-her-gaze/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“If people are living the same as always, with their bellies full of food, they'll just go on the same way. If they get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/if-people-are-living-the-same-as-always-with-their-bellies-full-of/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [“Scene VI (1940) It is our fault we love only the skull of Beauty Without knowing who she was, of what she died. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/scene-vi-1940-it-is-our-fault-we-love-only-the-skull-of-beauty/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [One never took the time to savour the details; one said: another day, but always with the hidden knowledge that each day was unique…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/one-never-took-the-time-to-savour-the-details-one-said-another-day/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) [Explore all 122 Paul Bowles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) Tumblr > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the knowledge of that isolation. A fiction that serves as an anesthetic.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Bowles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else-the-concept-of-society-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else-the-concept-of-society-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb8/paul-bowles-3731_beauty_everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else_45553.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the…” — Paul Bowles", "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": "Paul Bowles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everyone is isolated from everyone else....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else-the-concept-of-society-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else-the-concept-of-society-is/#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 } } ] } ```