“There is a world of difference between primarily need-based living and engaging in the transformative energy of communal life, just as between being isolated and separate–living in fear that we are or will be abandoned–and embracing the life-altering power of solitude intentionally engaged.”

Healey, Bede. “Psychological Investigations and Implications for Living Together Alone.” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, p. 120.