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About this quote

What does it mean?
Being new or different can feel isolating because no one understands you yet.
In plain terms
Trying something new can make you feel alone.
What can you take from it?
New things bring isolation.

Where it applies

  • starting a project
  • moving to a new place
  • changing careers

Putting it to work

  • seek community
  • accept discomfort
  • build support

Questions to consider

  • When did you feel lonely by being new?
  • Is novelty worth the isolation?

Another view

Loneliness can come from many other things too.

More from Wendell Berry

  1. But a man with a machine and inadequate culture--such as I was when I made my pond--is a pestilence. He shakes more than he can hold.

    Permalink to quote #11
  2. The teachers are everywhere. What is wanted is a learner.

    Permalink to quote #13
  3. An art that heals and protects its subject is a geography of scars.

    Permalink to quote #10

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