Put the other way around, nothing is scarier to humans than isolation. Isolated people have not only their physical security threatened, but their mental security as well. Because instinctively, we are well aware that we cannot live alone. As a consequence, we are always longing for a strong “connection” with other people. … Do you understand what
... See moreFumitake Koga • The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day
Many cannot bear it, and so they flee from it, hardening their hearts, seeking refuge in pride or nihilism.
The result is isolation, where we avoid others out of worry about being exposed.
Drew Moser • The Enneagram of Discernment: The Way of Vocation, Wisdom, and Practice
We live our lives in avoidance of those places and risks which might lead to our rejection, pre-emptively excluding ourselves, then suffering the same loneliness as if the rejection had come from the outside.
Toko-pa Turner • Belonging: Remembering Ourselves home
Trying repeatedly to do something so potentially devastating requires being finely attuned to other people, tapped into your own ability for intimacy. And our culture of extreme individualism and extreme alienation, our culture of loneliness, doesn’t exactly make that easy.