Walk and talk and work and laugh with your friends. But behind the scenes keep up the life of simple prayer and inward worship. Keep it up throughout the day. Let inward prayer be your last act before you fall asleep and the first act when you awake.

– Thomas R. Kelly,
A Testament of Devotion, 1941

The capacity to be alone is a necessary balance to the press of social life, and the healing power of solitude is central to our well-being. It promotes self-understanding and contact with those inner depths of being that often elude us when meeting the demands of daily living. Above all, solitude provides the opportunity to be alone with God and opens us to the workings of the Spirit.

I am morally certain, that I have many a day gone through the cares and concerns of life, with much more composure, stability, satisfaction and propriety, for the strength and assistance I have found in drawing near to God in solemn silence in my family.

– Job Scott,
Journal, 1797