We are all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life. And the condemned man can see other people through the windows of his cell, and they can see him, but they cannot communicate.

Tennessee Williams — Where I Live: Selected Essays

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lonelinesshuman-connectionidentity

We deceive ourselves if we imagine that we can ever be passive, impartial observers. Every perception, every scene, is shaped by us, whether we intend it or know it, or not. We are the directors of the film we are making — but we are its subjects too: every frame, every moment, is us, is ours.

Oliver Sacks

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perceptionconsciousnesscognitive-bias

We are always in our own company. A man must know how to be alone, even in a crowd, even in a vast solitude; for what we seek in others is ourselves, and what we find is our own reflection.

Henri Frédéric Amiel — Journal Intime

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solitudeself-knowledgeintrospection