Living alone makes it harder to find someone to blame.

Cooley’s aphorism wryly links solitude with accountability. When one lives with others, everyday frustrations can be externalized—mess, noise, delays, disappointments can be pinned on a roommate, partner, or family member. Living alone removes that convenient scapegoat: the causes of disorder or dissatisfaction more clearly trace back to one’s own habits, choices, and limits. The line also hints at a psychological comfort in blame—how social proximity supplies targets for irritation—and suggests that solitude, though sometimes lonely, can be clarifying. It frames independence not as pure freedom but as a condition that exposes self-deception and demands self-responsibility.