Themes
I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
— Henry David Thoreau • Walden
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
Solitude is presented as welcome company rather than an absence to endure. Even pleasant social contact can become tiring, whereas being alone feels sustaining. By calling solitude a companion, the passage challenges the assumption that companionship always requires another person.
Context reviewed