The most common objection to the solitary life is that it is selfish. But everyone in society participating in the popular culture around them is “selfish” in the sense of serving themselves or using the objects around them — material or human, near or far — to gratify themselves, usually gratifying luxuries and whims, not needs. Solitude as separation from society and culture has the best chance for letting a person break away and into a better state of mind, body, and soul. Assuming, of course, that the solitary is not simply reproducing society and culture anyway, but in a private little world, still eager to consume society’s products, fads, and extravagances.