Too lazy to be ambitious,I let the world take care of itself.Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?Listening to the night rain on my roof,I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

~ Ryōkan

Ryōkan Buddhism Buddhist Hermit Japan Japanese Monk Philosophers Philosophy Poem Poems Poetry Ryokan Seers Zen Zen Monk

Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Hermit Silence Solitude Wisdom

It was like hiking into a Hemingway story everything was sepia-toned and bristling with subtext.

~ Leslie What

Leslie What Funny Hermit Literature Simile Wilderness

A fine line separates the weary recluse from the fearful hermit. Finer still is the line between hermit and bitter misanthrope.

~ Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz Agoraphobia Fear Hermit Misanthrope Misanthropy Social Isolation

I am not poor, I am not rich; nihil est, nihil deest, I have little, I want nothing: all my treasure is in Minerva’s tower...I live still a collegiate student...and lead a monastic life, ipse mihi theatrum [sufficient entertainment to myself], sequestered from those tumults and troubles of the world...aulae vanitatem, fori ambitionem, ridere mecum soleo [I laugh to myself at the vanities of the court, the intrigues of public life], I laugh at all.

~ Robert Burton

Robert Burton Alone Hermit People Public Quiet Solitary Solitude

Some artists benefit less from being interviewed than they do from being left alone.

~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Mokokoma Mokhonoana Amwriting Art Artist Artists Hermit Hermits Interview Interviewed Interviewee Interviewees Interviewer Interviewers Isolate Isolation Lone Hunter Marketing Personal Branding Personal Promotion Promotion Reclusive Seclude Seclusion Writer Writers Writing Writing Advice Writing Lesson Writing Lessons Writing Life Writing Tips

Consciousness is a born hermit.

~ George Santayana

George Santayana Alone Born Consciousness Hermit Nature Self Solitary

It's quite simple, they poisoned it with smoke, chemicals and pollution from factories and cars, and power stations. Silly humans knew what they were doing, but carried on poisoning the planet anyway.

~ Richard J. Ward

Richard J. Ward Children S Book Factories Future Hermit Humans Poison Pollution Recycle Time Machine

now it’s computers and more computersand soon everybody will have one,3-year-olds will have computersand everybody will know everythingabout everybody elselong before they meet them.nobody will want to meet anybodyelse ever againand everybody will bea recluselike I am now.

~ Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski Computers Facebook Friends Hermit Internet Iphone Iphones Recluse Social Networking Social Networks

Jade blinked. It was only for a fraction of a second but she could have sworn the the house had changed shape.

~ Richard J. Ward

Richard J. Ward Blink Children S Books Hermit House Magic Richard Ward Shape Time Machine

Sometimes the idea of living as a hermit appeals to all of us. No demands, no needs, no pain, no disappointments. But that is because we have been hurt, are worn out.

~ John Eldredge

John Eldredge Demands Disappointments Hermit Hurt Needs Pain Woman Womanhood Women Worn Out

A hermit never lives alone when he has God as a house guest.

~ Anthony T. Hincks

Anthony T. Hincks Alone God Guest Hermit Home Lives Lives Alone Philoosphy

I understand I've made an unusual lifestyle choice. But the label 'crazy' bothers me. Annoys me. Because it prevents response. When someone asks if you're crazy, Knight lamented, you can either say yes, which makes you crazy, or you can say no, which makes you sound defensive, as if you fear that you really are crazy. There's no good answer.

~ Michael Finkel

Michael Finkel Crazy Hermit Isolation Solitude

Nobody enjoys the company of others as intensely as someone who usually avoids the company of others.

~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Mokokoma Mokhonoana Affable Alone Amicable Anchoress Anchorite Anthropocentric Anthropocentrism Antisocial Approachable Ascetic By Oneself Chummy Cloistered Clubby Communicative Companionable Companionless Convivial Cordial Eremite Extrovert Forthcoming Friendless Friendly Genial Gregarious Hail Fellow Well Met Hermit Hermitic Incommunicado Introvert Isolate Isolation Lone Wolf Lonely Loner Lonesome Marabout Misanthrope Misanthropy On One S Own Open Outgoing Recluse Reclusive Responsive Seclude Secluded Sociable Solitarian Solitary Solitudinarian Troglodyte Unaccompanied Unsociable Warm Withdrawn

The Hermit is an important tarot card with much to tell us, but he tends not to be so welcome around the bonfire.

~ Thomm Quackenbush

Thomm Quackenbush Fire Hermit Introvert Tarot