an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds

[sajjj]

[FONT=georgia, bookman old style, palatino linotype, book antiqua, palatino, trebuchet ms, helvetica, garamond, sans-serif, arial, verdana, avante garde, century gothic, comic sans ms, times, times new roman, serif]I've come across this quote.
"The great omission in American life is solitude; not loneliness, for this is an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds, but that zone of time and space, free from the outside pressures, which is the incubator of the spirit. ~Marya Mannes"

I don't understand the meaning of "[FONT=georgia, bookman old style, palatino linotype, book antiqua, palatino, trebuchet ms, helvetica, garamond, sans-serif, arial, verdana, avante garde, century gothic, comic sans ms, times, times new roman, serif]an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds[/FONT]". What does it refer to? Can someone help explain this? Thanks.
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[bhaisahab]

It refers to loneliness.

 

[Tdol]

You can have a lot of people around you, but that does not mean you are not affected by loneliness. I communicate with people from all over the world every day, but I hardly speak to my neighbours. We have lots of people around us, and may feel lonely, but we lack the solitude - total absence of outside influences - that may be necessary to feed the spirit. Loneliness, which could be present in crowds, should not be confused with solitude, which may be important when trying to think.