What a commentary on civilization, when being alone is being suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it — like a secret vice.

Lindbergh laments a social climate in which solitude is treated as abnormal or even morally dubious. The “commentary on civilization” suggests that modern life equates constant sociability with health and virtue, so choosing to be alone invites suspicion and demands justification. By comparing solitude to a “secret vice,” she exposes how deeply this stigma can be internalized—people conceal a legitimate human need as if it were shameful. The passage implicitly defends solitude as a form of autonomy and self-renewal, and critiques a culture that crowds out reflection, privacy, and inner life in favor of perpetual visibility and participation.