Solitude Anthony Storr Quotes & Sayings

It is widely believed that interpersonal relationships of an intimate kind are the chief, if not the only, source of human happiness. Yet the lives of creative individuals often seem to run counter to this assumption. — Anthony Storr

Erik Erikson writes that in their search for identity, adolescents need a place of stillness, a place to gather themselves.2 Psychiatrist Anthony Storr writes of solitude in much the same way. Storr says that in accounts of the creative process, "by far the greater number of new ideas occur during a state of reverie, intermediate between waking and sleeping ... It is a state of mind in which ideas and images are allowed to appear and take their course spontaneously ... the creator need[s] to be able to be passive, to let things happen within the mind."3 In the digital life, stillness and solitude are hard to come by. — Sherry Turkle

Imagination flourishes best in solitude. — Anthony Storr

In his history of solitude, Anthony Storr writes about the importance of being able to feel at peace in one's own company. But many find that, trained by the Net, they cannot find solitude even at a lake or beach or on a hike. Stillness makes them anxious. I see the beginnings of a backlash as some young people become disillusioned with social media. There is,. too, the renewed interest in yoga, Eastern religions, meditating, and slowness. — Sherry Turkle

In a culture in which interpersonal relationships are generally considered to provide the answer to every form of distress, it is sometimes difficult to persuade well-meaning helpers that solitude can be as therapeutic as emotional support. — Anthony Storr

The capacity to form attachments on equal terms is considered evidence of emotional maturity. It is the absence of this capacity which is pathological. Whether there may be other criteria of emotional maturity, like the capacity to be alone, is seldom taken into account. — Anthony Storr

The human spirit is not indestructible; but a courageous few discover that, when in hell, they are granted a glimpse of heaven. — Anthony Storr