70 Isolation Quotes To Remind Us We Aren't Alone (2022)

These isolation quotes will help you cope with the feeling of loneliness and remind you of your inner strength.

This year has changed the way interact with other people in our lives. We had months of true isolation in our houses. For me, that wasn’t so awful because I have two older children and a husband to share the space with. However, there were many married couples who did not react to that well.

I worried about my single friends who couldn’t see other human beings face to face. Everyone has responded to this isolation in their own way, but isolation has been known to have negative effects on mental health. Isolation can decrease your life-span, bring depression, and even cause sleep issues. Isolation can make people feel sad and lonely.

Some of these quotes are poetic and offer a picture of what isolation can do to a person. Others remind us that isolation can lead to new realizations and give us the time to reevaluate how our lives look.

If you have struggled with recent events, then these quotes will remind you that while you might have been alone, you weren’t alone in your feelings.

Don’t forget to also check out these being quotes that will help you conquer the feeling of loneliness.

Poetic isolation quotes

1. “We’re all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.” ― Rudyard Kipling

2. “But there are other words for privacy and independence. They are isolation and loneliness.” ― Megan Whalen Turner

3. “Alone, condemned, deserted, as those who are about to die are alone, there was a luxury in it, an isolation full of sublimity; a freedom which the attached can never know.” ― Virginia Woolf

4. “I am a stranger in this world, and there is a severe solitude and painful lonesomeness in my exile.” ― Kahlil Gibran

5. “Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone?” ― Thomas Wolfe

6. “Isolation has carved me in its image and likeness.” ― Fernando Pessoa

7. “If you liked being alone all the time, that would be one thing. But I don’t actually think you do. I think you’re just letting yourself be scared.” ― Katie Cotugno

8. “And he wonders, deep in the self-isolated recesses of his mind whether he is killing himself with anger, whether he is destroying his system with fury.” ― Richard Matheson

9. “He went back to his solitary wanderings. Believing any set of four walls to be a tomb or a trap, he preferred to float over the most barren of open spaces.” ― Bruce Chatwin

10. “I’ve borne my isolation with me through the crowd as the snail bears its house. For some people isolation isn’t a circumstance in which they find themselves, it’s an innate characteristic.” ― Hjalmar Söderberg

Isolation quotes about sadness and loneliness

11. “Isolation and loneliness are central causes of depression and despair.” ― Bell Hooks
If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of powerful depression quotes that will provide perspective.

12. “…it begins with isolation – demons always inhabit desolate places…” ― John Geddes

13. “There comes a time when something changes you… No matter the impact… Where the world no longer beats in time with you. You no longer feel amongst the fray.. And the feeling of loneliness is a brandished armor you wear the rest of your life.” ― Solange Nicole

14. “The worst kind of loneliness in the world is isolation that comes from being misunderstood. It can make people lose their grasp on reality.” ― Shyza Chaudhry

15. “To truly strip a man of everything, one must take away his money, community, and the core of his beliefs until he is bathed in the agony of isolation.” ― Leinad Eibam

16. “There was cruelty in silence, and isolation made it worse.” ― Jordan Dane

17. “Being a control freak is a weakness, not a strength. If you can’t allow others to shine, you’re exhibiting signs of narcissism and showing a lack of self-confidence. It is isolation through ego.” ― Stewart Stafford

18. “Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?” ― Haruki Murakami

19. “I have such a fear of finding another like myself, and such a desire to find one! I am so utterly lonely, but I also have such a fear that my isolation be broken through, and I no longer be the head and ruler of my universe.” ― Anaïs Nin

Isolation quotes on what being alone looks like

20. “If you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.” ― Jodi Picoult
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to check out our collection of solitude quotes to bring you peace.

21. “I have such a fear of finding another like myself, and such a desire to find one! I am so utterly lonely, but I also have such a fear that my isolation be broken through, and I no longer be the head and ruler of my universe.” ― Anaïs Nin

22. “Over time, as most people fail the survivor’s exacting test of trustworthiness, she tends to withdraw from relationships. The isolation of the survivor thus persists even after she is free.” ― Judith Lewis Herman

23. “Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first.” ― Wayne Cordeiro

24. “Anything that inspires addiction or obsession – substances, entertainment, beauty, secrecy – is dangerous in that it can lead to isolation, self-absorption, and disconnection, to paralyzed stasis: an immobility that gathers like a force.” ― Greg Carlisle

25. “She could be lively only in the midst of life; in isolation she dwindled to a shadow.” ― Stefan Zweig

26. “This is what it means to be alone: everyone is connected to everyone else, their bodies are a bright liquid life flowing around you, sharing a single heart that drives them to move all together. If the shark comes, they will all escape, and leave you to be eaten.” ― Barbara Kingsolver

27. “You have entered an abnormal, lonely, and unwelcome new world where you are nothing but an island of sadness.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

28. “You are the salt of the earth. But remember that salt is useful when in association, but useless in isolation.” ― Israelmore Ayivor

29. “My principle article of faith is that one can only flourish among people who share the identical ideas and the identical will. I have no one. That is my sickness.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

30. “In constant physical or emotional isolation, nothing seems real, not even ourselves. It’s only in the reflective eyes of others that assures us we exist at all.” ― Jason Versey

Inspiring isolation quotes

31. “We don’t heal in isolation but in community.” ― S. Kelley Harrell

32. “Nobody enjoys the company of others as intensely as someone who usually avoids the company of others.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

33. “Isolation offered its own form of companionship.” ― Jhumpa Lahiri

34. “A hermit is simply a person to whom civilization has failed to adjust itself.” ― Will Cuppy

35. “Sometimes isolation can be shared.” ― Ken Grimwood

36. “Sometimes we must take the most important journey’s in isolation; alone except for the experience itself.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

37. “We felt so lonely in the crowd. And now we feel so connected in isolation.” ― Hrishikesh Agnihotri
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of lonely quotes to help you navigate solitide.

38. “In isolation, you just lose the company but don’t lose the purpose.” ― Amit Kalantri

39. “A stark sense of isolation encloses anyone who looks outward for validation.” ― Gina Barreca

Isolation quotes that remind us it can be a good thing

40. “Of all individuals, the hated, the shunned, and the peculiar are arguably most themselves. They wear no masks whatsoever in order to be accepted and liked; they do seem most guarded, but only by their own hands: as compared to the populace, they are naked.” ― Criss Jami

41. “Love can isolate us from everything around us. But in its absence, we can be filled with the fear that something comparable exists.” ― Carlos Fuentes

42. “If isolation is the furnace of transformation, I could be ashes by now.” ― Stephen Christian

43. “They say isolation drives you crazy. Sure it does – when you can’t get enough of it.” ― Anneli Rufus

44. “Much of the study of history is a matter of comparison, of relating what was happening in one area to what was happening elsewhere, and what had happened in the past. To view a period in isolation is to miss whatever message it has to offer.” ― Louis L’Amour

45. “I want to just say, ‘Thank you,’ to COVID-19 because without it, I wouldn’t have discovered what it was like to have a family. Before COVID it was work, money and booze, but with this isolation, I discovered a whole new me and a family that had become strangers.” ― Anthony T. Hincks

46. “Too much isolation can be a danger to you and your health. It is a hazard to the common people, as well as a benefit to those who know how to use their free time.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo

47. “Isolation serves as the ideal antidote to the bone-aching stresses of work.” ― Fennel Hudson

48. “Be honest. What did you really learn about being in isolation? And after learning it, do you really want to go back to who you were before?” ― Anthony T Hincks

49. “Most of the geniuses have a record of being isolated from the masses—Because great ideas come only when you’re alone. Same as revelation to the prophets.” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo

50. “Isolation hones the inner voice, the unspoken dialogue between the selves.” ― Steven Erikson

Other isolation quotes and sayings

51. “It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” – John Joseph Powell

52. “The parts of me that used to think I was different or smarter or whatever, almost made me die.” – David Foster Wallace

53. “I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.” – Kurt Cobain

54. “I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.” – Franz Kafka

55. “Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us. Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.” – Dan Brown

56. “There is a difference between solitude and isolation. One is connected and one isn’t. Solitude replenishes, isolation diminishes.” – Henry Cloud

57. “The walls of isolation are not as solid as your suffering makes them seem.” – Deepak Chopra

58. “Isolation is a way to know ourselves.” – Franz Kafka

59. “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.” – Orson Welles

60. “A person is a person through other persons; you can’t be human in isolation; you are human only in relationships.” – Desmond Tutu

Uplifting Isolation Quotes To Help You Overcome the Loneliness

61. “It’s far better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone.” Marilyn Monroe

62. “Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”
Henry Rollins

63. “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.” — Mother Teresa

64. “Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.” — Dag Hammarskjold

65. “All great and precious things are lonely.” — John Steinbeck

66. “A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.” — Mandy Hale

67. “Sometimes you need to take a break from everyone and spend time alone to experience, appreciate, and love yourself.” — Robert Tew

68. “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” — Maya Angelou

69. “But your isolation must not be mechanical, but spiritual, that is, must be elevation.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

70. “Liberty is the possibility of isolation.” — Fernando Pessoa

Which of these isolation quotes resonated with you best?

How did you handle months of isolation? It was challenging and certainly felt different, but I was thankful for the time to reconnect with the people who matter the most to me.

I have two sisters that live blocks away from me that I didn’t see for almost 2 months, though. We had previously seen each other almost every day, and I missed them like crazy. We made sure we spoke to one another daily, so that helped.

What kept you sane during confinement? I tried to focus on learning and improving my skills. We instituted family movie night nightly. My eldest child, a junior in high school, laid on my lap every night for two months and I cherished the time I suddenly spent with her. Even though she has been back to her social self for a while now, I notice that she is home more than she was pre-COVID restrictions. I believe she realized how much she missed us as well.

Hopefully, you made some positive realizations within the quiet and carried them into your new normal. I am glad that we can venture back into the world now. Let us know how being isolated affected you in the comment section below. And if you have any other helpful isolation quotes and sayings to add, don’t forget to mention them as well.