Chesterton: “What to make of Solitude?”

“When faced with a few hours or days without occupation, they will grumble about their idleness. When presented with the gift of solitude, which is the gift of freedom, they will throw it away; they will deliberately destroy it…”

Newsroom (04/08/2023 15:13, Gaudium Press) “There are those who complain about a man for doing nothing; those, even more mysterious and surprising, who complain about having nothing to do. When faced with a few hours or days without occupation, they will grumble about their idleness. When presented with the gift of solitude, which is the gift of freedom, they will throw it away; they will deliberately destroy it with some terrible game of cards or a small ball. I speak only for myself; I know that in the world there must be all kinds of men; but I can’t help shuddering when I see them throw away the vacation – for which they have sweated – by doing something.

For my part, I never have enough to do. I feel as if I never have enough leisure to unpack even a tenth of the baggage of my life and thoughts. Needless to say, there’s nothing particularly misanthropic about my desire for isolation; quite the opposite. In my childhood, as I’ve already said, I was sometimes, in a rather terrible sense, lonely in the midst of society. But in my adult life I have never felt more sociable than when I was alone.”

CHESTERTON, G. K. Autobiography. São Paulo: Ecclesiae, 2012, p. 249.

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