SO GOOD QUOTES

Psycho-analysts will point to the obvious fact that these three men were technically ‘abnormal’, and I concede that all three exhibited more than the usual share of what is generally deemed ‘psycho-pathology’.  Nevertheless, all three survived and made important contributions to human knowledge and understanding which, I consider, they could not have made if they had not been predominantly solitary.  Would they have been happier if they had been able, or more inclined, to seek personal fulfilment in love rather than in their work?  It is impossible to say.  What should be emphasized is that mankind would be infinitely the poorer if such men of genius were unable to flourish, and we must therefore consider that their traits of personality, as well as their high intelligence, are biologically adaptive.  The psychopathology of such men is no more than an exaggeration of traits which can be found in all of us.  We all need to find some order in the world, to make some sense out of our existence.  Those who are particularly concerned with such a search bear witness to the fact that interpersonal relationships are not the only way of finding emotional fulfilment.

Solitude, a Return to the Self