"There was a patient look on the old man's face, as if the world were a great mistake and he had nobody with whom to speak his own language or find companionship." ~ The Country of Pointed Firs. How it sometimes feels to be single! Then you find a person with whom you can speak. One may ask: Is it a lover? A friend? Someone of the same gender? The opposite? Someone close to your age or far older or younger? Perhaps you find this person and you speak the same language. Or perhaps you end up again with a feeling of isolation and inability to communicate - yet now you have someone with you while you are alone. It is a cycle which I would guess we all wish to end by the discovery of true companionship or total ease with oneself.