"There is [a] need to be related to the world outside oneself, the need to avoid aloneness… An individual may be alone in a physical sense for many years and yet he may be related to ideas, values, or at least social patterns that give him a feeling of communion and 'belonging'. On the other hand, he may live among people and yet be overcome with an utter feeling of isolation… The spiritual relatedness to the world can assume many forms; the monk in his cell who believes in God and the political prisoner kept in isolation who feels one with his fellow-fighters are not alone morally… The kind of relatedness to the world may be noble or trivial, but even being related to the basest kind of pattern is immensely preferable to being alone. Religion and nationalism, as well as any custom and any belief however absurd and degrading, if it only connects the individual with others, are refuges from what man most dreads: isolation."
"By being aware of himself as distinct from nature and other people, by being aware – even very dimly – of death, sickness, ageing, he necessarily feels his insignificance and smallness in comparison with the universe and all others who are not 'he'. Unless he belonged somewhere, unless his life had some meaning and direction, he would feel like a particle of dust and be overcome by his individual insignificance. He would not be able to relate himself to any system which would give meaning and direction to his life, he would be filled with doubt, and this doubt eventually would paralyse his ability to act – that is, to live."
"From the standpoint of the Church which represented authority, [the expulsion from Paradise] is essentially sin. From the standpoint of man, however, this is the beginning of human freedom… The myth emphasizes the suffering resulting from this act… He is alone and free, yet powerless and afraid."
