In short: the Buddha praised solitude when good company isn't available: "It's better to wander alone, there's no fellowship with fools. Wander alone and do no wrong, at ease like a tusker in the wilds" (Dhammapada 330). But he also called good friends "the whole of the spiritual life". Here are six genuine quotes, each with its source.
1. Dhammapada 330
"It's better to wander alone, there's no fellowship with fools. Wander alone and do no wrong, at ease like a tusker in the wilds."
2. Dhammapada 329
"If you find no alert companion, no attentive friend to live happily together, then, like a king who flees his conquered realm, wander alone like a tusker in the wilds."
3. Dhammapada 61
"If while wandering you find no partner equal or better than yourself, then firmly resolve to wander alone— there's no fellowship with fools."
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4. Dhammapada 305
"Sitting alone, sleeping alone, tirelessly wandering alone; one who tames themselves alone would delight within a forest."
5. Dhammapada 373
"A mendicant who enters an empty hut with mind at peace finds a superhuman delight as they rightly discern the Dhamma."
Solitude can be a delight, not just a lack.
6. SN 45.2
"Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life."
The balance: solitude is good, good friends are better.
Feeling lonely rather than happily alone? See Buddhist teachings on loneliness.
All quotes are from the early Buddhist texts in Bhikkhu Sujato's translation on SuttaCentral, copied exactly. Last checked: 17 October 2026.
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What did the Buddha say about being alone?
'It's better to wander alone, there's no fellowship with fools. Wander alone and do no wrong, at ease like a tusker in the wilds' (Dhammapada 330).