Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone and leave it alone.
Source: In Instant Quotation Dictionary, by Donald O. Bolander, 1979.
-- Thomas De Quincey, (Aug 15 1785-1859), English essayist, critic; He is best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.