--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Isolation is the sum total of…" description: "\"Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.\" — Thomas Carlyle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png" --- # Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man. ![“Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.” quote by Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png) > “Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.” [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Isolation deepens suffering, making life miserable. **In simple terms:** Isolation makes life miserable. Key Takeaway Seek connection to alleviate loneliness. Themes loneliness human condition well‑being Mood reflective empathetic hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - mental health - community building - relationships Key Concepts social philosophy psychology of isolation Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to connect? - How does isolation affect your purpose? A Different Perspective Isolation can be self‑imposed, complicating solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Isolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [“I was always alone, Doc, solitary whether I wished to be or not, ever since I could remember I wished to be lost in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-was-always-alone-doc-solitary-whether-i-wished-to-be-or-not-ever/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) > [“We are like puzzle pieces who are perfectly suited to make a giant picture together, but we are assembling ourselves in the dark.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/we-are-like-puzzle-pieces-who-are-perfectly-suited-to-make-a-giant/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [“ISOLATION DOES STRANGE THINGS to a person’s mind. This is true for any social creature, human or otherwise. Monkeys taken from their mothers at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/isolation-does-strange-things-to-a-person-s-mind-this-is-true-for-any/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Many people, especially young people, would like to be more independent and on their own. But it is very difficult and they suffer from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/many-people-especially-young-people-would-like-to-be-more-independent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“An overcrowded world is the ideal place in which to be lonely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/an-overcrowded-world-is-the-ideal-place-in-which-to-be-lonely/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“Because knowledge is only a cage if you dwell in isolation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/because-knowledge-is-only-a-cage-if-you-dwell-in-isolation/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [Sometimes isolation can be shared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-grimwood/sometimes-isolation-can-be-shared/) [Ken Grimwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-grimwood/) > [Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the knowledge of that isolation. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else-the-concept-of-society-is/) [Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/) > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“This was the difference, she thought, between solitude and isolation. And now she knew something about herself she hadn’t known before. It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/this-was-the-difference-she-thought-between-solitude-and-isolation/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [Isolation makes me lonesome, but when I'm lonely in a crowd, I feel desolate and forlorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/isolation-makes-me-lonesome-but-when-i-m-lonely-in-a-crowd-i-feel/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [“Nothing happens in isolation. Everything that happens has consequences. We”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/nothing-happens-in-isolation-everything-that-happens-has-consequences/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) ## More by Thomas Carlyle > [O thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/o-thou-that-pinest-in-the-imprisonment-of-the-actual-and-criest/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Whose school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/whose-school-hours-are-all-the-days-and-nights-of-our-existence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/no-sadder-proof-can-be-given-by-a-man-of-his-own-littleness-than/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The sincere alone can recognize sincerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-sincere-alone-can-recognize-sincerity/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The glory of a workman, still more of a master workman, that he does his work well, ought to be his most precious possession;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-glory-of-a-workman-still-more-of-a-master-workman-that-he-does/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [All human things do require to have an ideal in them; to have some soul in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/all-human-things-do-require-to-have-an-ideal-in-them-to-have-some/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Insurrection, never so necessary, is a most sad necessity; and governors who wait for that to instruct them are surely getting into the fatalest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/insurrection-never-so-necessary-is-a-most-sad-necessity-and-governors/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Let Time and Chance combine, combine! Let Time and Chance combine! The fairest love from heaven above, That love of yours was mine, My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/let-time-and-chance-combine-combine-let-time-and-chance-combine-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Thought will not work except in silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/thought-will-not-work-except-in-silence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The public is anold woman.Let her maunderand mumble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-public-is-anold-woman-let-her-maunderand-mumble/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Does not every true man feel that he is himself made higher by doing reverence to what is really above him?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/does-not-every-true-man-feel-that-he-is-himself-made-higher-by-doing/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The press is the fourth estate of the realm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-press-is-the-fourth-estate-of-the-realm/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) [Explore all 917 Thomas Carlyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## More Isolation quotes > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [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/) > [Isolation makes me lonesome, but when I'm lonely in a crowd, I feel desolate and forlorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/isolation-makes-me-lonesome-but-when-i-m-lonely-in-a-crowd-i-feel/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [I am very convinced that I did not contract Ebola in the isolation unit, because our process is so safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-brantly/i-am-very-convinced-that-i-did-not-contract-ebola-in-the-isolation/) [Kent Brantly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-brantly/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [“In good company your thoughts run, in solitude your thought is still; it goes deeper and makes for itself a deeper groove, delves. Delve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/in-good-company-your-thoughts-run-in-solitude-your-thought-is-still/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > ['Mulk' is a film that needed to be made. We can no longer sweep the isolation of the Indian Muslim under the carpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anubhav-sinha/mulk-is-a-film-that-needed-to-be-made-we-can-no-longer-sweep-the/) [Anubhav Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anubhav-sinha/) > [Helping reproductive services doesn't just help women in isolation. It helps men just as much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/helping-reproductive-services-doesn-t-just-help-women-in-isolation-it/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [“This is one of the harshest after effects of the pandemic that I am witnessing some and experiencing some, a diminished ability to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shellen-lubin/this-is-one-of-the-harshest-after-effects-of-the-pandemic-that-i-am/) [Shellen Lubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shellen-lubin/) > [“This was the difference, she thought, between solitude and isolation. And now she knew something about herself she hadn’t known before. It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/this-was-the-difference-she-thought-between-solitude-and-isolation/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [Oh, the solitariness of sin! There is nothing like it, except, perhaps, the solitariness of death. In that isolation none can reach you, none…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-reginald-haweis/oh-the-solitariness-of-sin-there-is-nothing-like-it-except-perhaps/) [Hugh Reginald Haweis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-reginald-haweis/) > [So many writers grew up in tortured isolation, in revolt against their families. I and my sister were in a house where writing was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/so-many-writers-grew-up-in-tortured-isolation-in-revolt-against-their/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) [Browse all 1,128 Isolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Carlyle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedness-to-a-man/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Isolation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedness-to-a-man/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec9/thomas-carlyle-207_isolation_isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedne_2579279.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.” — Thomas Carlyle", "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": "Thomas Carlyle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Isolation is the sum total of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedness-to-a-man/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/isolation-is-the-sum-total-of-wretchedness-to-a-man/#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 } } ] } ```