"Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god"

Francis Bacon’s assertion that being delighted in solitude renders one either a wild beast or a god draws a striking distinction between human nature and the extremes that lie beyond it. Humans, inherently social creatures, thrive on interaction, cooperation, and the complex web of relationships that forms society. For most people, company alleviates loneliness, inspires creativity, and cultivates empathy. The capacity to find joy in solitude, therefore, implies stepping outside the bounds of customary human identity.

To be like a “wild beast” is to exist outside of society’s moral codes and expectations. Animals in the wild live by instinct, without regard for social contracts or communal bonds, save for what nature demands. Such creatures are self-reliant, untroubled by the need for approval, unconcerned with conversation or shared labor. When a person finds solace in seclusion, shunning community involvement, it can suggest a primal independence, perhaps even antisocial tendencies that align more closely with the animal kingdom than with society.

On the opposite end, the “god” symbolizes supreme self-sufficiency, wisdom, and the ability to transcend ordinary desires. For the divine, solitude is not isolation but wholeness, a state of contentment that comes from within and not from the external world. To take delight in solitude as a god would signify inner completeness, mastery over one’s own mind and spirit, undisturbed by loneliness or need.

Bacon’s statement highlights an uneasy relationship with solitude: it is either a mark of the most untamed, unsocial element in humanity or a sign of extraordinary self-mastery. Most people exist between these poles, needing others for affirmation and purpose. Genuine delight in pure solitude is, therefore, portrayed as rare and extreme, almost unnatural for the average person, suiting only those who have entirely forsaken or transcended typical human experience.