Bijou, Baby

You can not fully read a book without being alone. But through this very solitude you become intimately involved with people whom you might never have met otherwise, either because they have been dead for centuries or because they spoke languages you cannot understand. And, nonetheless, they have become your closest friends, your wisest advisers, the wizards that hypnotize you, the lovers you have always dreamed of.

Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.

I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stumped by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, hi. They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word.