Walden by Henry Thoreau pg. 120-179

Thoreau writes his thoughts on the value of solitude, discussing the dissipating effect of over frequent social interaction. He writes that our attempts to increase understanding of one another by being in close proximity is ineffective; that we often meet before we have had time to accumulate anything new to share with others. Also nature is considered a sort of company, we can draw from communion with the many subtle intelligences just as we would draw from another human being.