Quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from

It is not physical solitude that actually separates one from others; not physical isolation, but spiritual isolation. It is not the desert island nor the stony wilderness that cuts you from the people you love. It is the wilderness in the mind, the desert wastes in the heart through which one wanders lost and a stranger. When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too. If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others. How often in a large city, shaking hands with my friends, I have felt the wilderness stretching between us. Both of us were wandering in arid wastes, having lost the springs that nourished us -- or having found them dry. Only when one is connected to one's own core is one connected to others, I am beginning to discover. And, for me, the core, the inner spring, can best be refound through solitude.

Summary

This quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh highlights the idea that true isolation and disconnection from others stems from a lack of spiritual and emotional connection within oneself rather than physical separation. Lindbergh emphasizes that it is not the physical barriers such as being on a desert island or in a remote wilderness that disconnect individuals, but rather the emotional wilderness and inner desolation within our minds and hearts. When we are strangers to ourselves, we inevitably feel like strangers to others too, unable to truly connect and understand them. According to Lindbergh, to truly connect with others, one must first reconnect with their own inner self, a process that can often be achieved through moments of solitude.