He may have quite valid reasons for living apart from the world and should therefore do so, but can he? Few in this modern era can find the freedom required, the place suitable, the circumstances permitting it. Nearly everyone and everything is hostile to such an intention. Total removal is almost impossible but partial removal may be attainable. What is within easier access for most persons is a temporary and partial removal. That is, in the privacy of home, to arrange a time and corner where he can hope to be left undisturbed for a half hour or longer to put his mind on something more uplifting than that which the worldly environment customarily demands from him. This recess over, this daily retreat ended, the confrontation with the kind of life he has established in the world to satisfy its requirements and his own personal needs for survival will have to be repeated.
-- Notebooks Category 3: Relax and Retreat > Chapter 1 : Take Intermittent Pauses > # 167
