"7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
As a postscript to our comments on loneliness we give the following remarkable 'poem' by the Roman philosopher, Seneca:
For who listens to us in all the world, whether he be friend or teacher,
brother or father or mother,
sister or neighbour, son or ruler or servant?
Does he listen, our advocate, or our husbands or wives,
those who are dearest to us?
Do the stars listen, when we turn despairingly away
from man, or the great winds or the seas or the mountains? To whom can any man say - Here I am!
Behold me in my nakedness, my wounds,
my secret grief, my despair, my betrayal,
my pain, my tongue which cannot express my sorrow, my terror, my abandonment.
Listen to me for a day - an hour - a moment! Lest I expire in my terrible wilderness, my lonely silence!
Oh! God! Is there no one to listen?
Is there no one to listen, you ask?
Ah, yes, there is one who listens,
who will always listen. Hasten to him, my friend.
He waits on the hill for you. For you alone.