Probably nothing serious or worthwhile can be accomplished without one's willingness to be alone for sustained periods of time which is not to say that one must live alone obsessively.
As a teacher at Princeton I'm surrounded by people who work hard so I just...
But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to leave...
There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.