Modern society is dominated by the idea of individualism, but loneliness is often perceived as a personal failure. We find in ourselves the desire for both freedom and intimacy, which was clearly shown by the experience of isolation during a pandemic. In his essays, the German writer and journalist Daniel Schreiber peers into this seeming paradox, turning to the writings of philosophers (from Aristotle and Michel Foucault to Hannah Arendt and Gilles Deleuze), fiction (from Jane Austen to Annie Ernaux), topical studies of practicing psychotherapists, and even popular sitcoms. And he comes to the hope-giving thought that building hierarchies from life models may not be the best idea, and not only dark tones correspond to the word "loneliness."