Many people worry about finding the right person to settle down with, or having a failed marriage - but now people who have ended up alone have revealed it's nothing to be afraid of.
Singletons from around the world who haven't found a life partner took to the Q&A site Quora to reveal what it's really like, and most gave a positive account of solo living, the Daily Mail reports.
They were responding to the question, "What happens when you end up alone without a partner? Is it really that terrible of a life?"
Some said it had taken a bad relationship to make them realise it was much better to be alone. One person said: "I felt so lonely with my husband. I feel fulfilled now. It was a total liberation."
Another added: "You get to eat onions, do what you want, make mistakes without impacting somebody else's process. There are so many benefits I do not know how to list them all."
A divorced woman, whose children have moved out, said she finally had the freedom she had craved all her life.
"It's like pure oxygen," she said. "At last I have my own space and my own time and it's all mine."
One woman said some people, like her, were happier being masters of their own destinies and she didn't feel lacking in any way by not having a partner.
Another agreed some people were "naturally loners" but admitted she needed "a pet to make me whole".
"Being alone does have its advantages because you end up with a lot of 'me time,'" another added.
"But it does get boring after a while.
"Enjoy your 'me time', accumulate new friends. It really isn't so terrible."