They must have enough knowledge of the world to see the
vanity of it, and enough virtue to despise all vanity; if the mind
be possessed with any lust or passions, a man had better be in a
fair than in a wood alone. They may, like petty thieves, cheat us
perhaps, and pick our pockets in the midst of company, but like
robbers, they use to strip and bind, or murder us when they catch us
alone. This is but to retreat from men, and fall into the hands of
devils. It is like the punishment of parricides among the Romans,
to be sewed into a bag with an ape, a dog, and a serpent. The first
work, therefore, that a man must do to make himself capable of the
good of solitude is the very eradication of all lusts, for how is it
possible for a man to enjoy himself while his affections are tied to
things without himself? In the second place, he must learn the art
and get the habit of thinking; for this too, no less than well
speaking, depends upon much practice; and cogitation is the thing
which distinguishes the solitude of a god from a wild beast. Now
because the soul of man is not by its own nature or observation
furnished with sufficient materials to work upon; it is necessary
for it to have continual resource to learning and books for fresh
supplies, so that the solitary life will grow indigent, and be ready
to starve without them; but if once we be thoroughly engaged in the
love of letters, instead of being wearied with the length of any
day, we shall only complain of the shortness of our whole life.
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