It would do the world good if every man would compel himself occasionally to be absolutely alone. Most of the world s progress has come out of such loneliness.

Barton argues that deliberate solitude is not merely restorative but socially productive. By “compel himself,” he frames aloneness as a discipline—an intentional withdrawal from noise, conformity, and constant social reinforcement. The second sentence links major advances to the conditions that make original thought possible: uninterrupted reflection, self-critique, and the courage to pursue ideas before they are validated by others. In this view, loneliness is not an end in itself but a crucible for creativity and moral independence. The quote also implies a critique of modern busyness: progress stalls when individuals never step outside group opinion long enough to think freshly.