We want our freedom; we want to be ourselves, but we are also afraid to be by ourselves.

The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

What do we value? Externals. What do we look after? Externals. [12] So of course, we are going to experience fear and nervousness.

Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.

We're worried - and for good reason - about what it means fir the human future if we have only ourselves to rely upon.

We're worried - and for good reason - about what it means for the human future if we have only ourselves to rely upon.

The first step in spending time alone is to admit how afraid of it we are.

I've grown certain that the root of all fear is that we've been forced to deny who we are.

Fear makes us feel our humanity.

Until we have inner permission to be who we are, we will always be searching for it in the outside world.

We're just not strong enough to survive alone, let alone thrive. Whether we like to admit it or not, we need each other.

We all wish to be loved alone.

I'm frightened. Of us.

We fear discovering that we are more than we think we are. More than our parents/children/teachers think we are. We fear that we actually possess the talent that our still, small voice tells us. That we actually have the guts, the perseverance, the capacity. We fear that we truly can steer our ship, plant our flag, reach our Promised Land. We fear this because, if it’s true, then we become estranged from all we know. We pass through a membrane. We become monsters and monstrous.