Real life never arranges itself exactly like a romance. Everyday life is defined not only by what we do, but also by who we are with. Our actions and feeling are always influenced by other people, whether they are present or not. Life is full of cares and anxieties; people have occasion for, and a right to make use of, many expedients to make it pass on with tolerable ease. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 10

Humans are social beings; physically and psychologically, we depend on the company of others. Cultures differ in terms of how much a person is influenced by others, or by the internalized opinions of others when they are alone. Never was a galley-salve so chained as we are to these four and twenty oars, at which we must tug day and night all our life long. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 10

In some cultures, people are not considered to be separate individuals as we think of them, but rather cubits in an extended social network. One’s identity was determined not so much by one’s unique thoughts and actions, but rather by whose child, sibling, cousin, parent one was. Let us reflect, that the highest path is pointed out by the pure Ideal of those who look up to us, and who, if we tread less loftily, may never look so high again. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 10

The human mind, in its eager, though too often unavailing, struggle after happiness, will still make the most of its means. In our time also, compared to most American child(ren), those from close knit families, Military, or religious backgrounds are considered much more aware of parental expectations and opinions even when they are alone—in psychoanalytic terms, we might say that they have a stronger sense of propriety. Such is the power of virtue over the heart, that even a long course of vice will not render us wholly invulnerable to its divine influence. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 10

However, no matter how individualistic a culture might become, other people still determine to a large extent the quality of a person’s life. Every village has its idiosyncrasy, its constitution, often its own code of morality. It was solemn, and a little ridiculous, too, as they always are, those struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his more identity should be.  There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain. One should sympathize with the color, the beauty, the joy of life. The less said about life’s sores, the better. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 10

Most people spend roughly equal amounts of time in three social contexts. The first is made up of strangers, coworkers, or—for most young people—fellow students. This public space competes for resources, and where one might establish collaborative relationships with others. It has been reported that this public sphere of action is the most important for developing one’s potential, those one where the highest risks are run but the greatest growth occurs. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 10

The second context is made up of one’s family—for children their parents and siblings, for adults their partners, spouses, and children. While recently the very notion of family as a recognizable social unit has been severely criticized, and while it is true that no one kind of arrangement fits this definition in time and space, it is also true that always and everywhere there has been a group of people with whom one reckoned special bonds of kinship, with who one felt safer, and for whom one felt a greater sense of responsibility than for others. No matter how strange nowadays some of our reconstituted families are in comparison with an ideal nuclear family, close relatives still provide a unique kind of experience. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 10

Then there is the context defined by the absence of other people—solitude. It is a dreadful feeling that of being cut off from all one’s kind. I do not believe that any individual could long retain one’s reason in solitude. One begins doubting one’s own identity. In technological societies we spend about one-third of the day alone, a much greater proportion than in most tribal societies, where being alone is often considered to be very dangerous. Even for us being alone is undesirable; the vast majority of people try to avoid it as much as possible. One that lives well in the World is better than one that lives well in a monastery. #RyanPhillippe 8 of 10

Although it is possible to learn to enjoy solitude, it is a rare acquired taste. To a heart formed for friendship and affection the charms of solitude are very short lived. Not many of the obligations of daily life require for us to be alone: child(ren) have to study and practice by themselves, housewives and househusbands take care of the home alone, and many careers are at least in part solitary. #RyanPhillippe 9 of 10

So even if we do not enjoy it, it is important to learn to tolerate solitude, or else the quality of our lives is bound to suffer. However, perfect solitude can never be reconciled to a social mind, but when it relieves you from the company of those you strongly dislike. In solitude alone we can be free from the contagion of example, and enjoy a comparative felicity. However, the Lord said it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. I will never leave you nor forsake you. #RyanPhillippe 10 of 10