I agree. You can know them well-enough for practical purposes; sometimes they will surprise you. As an aside, I think the antonym of "lonely" is "understood",

I agree. You can know them well-enough for practical purposes; sometimes they will surprise you. As an aside, I think the antonym of "lonely" is "understood", and when you empathize with someone, you put yourself in their position and feel understood, and thus less lonely. A person can feel lonely in a crowd but not alone when their self is understood even when alone in a cell made of all (flesh, concrete or abstract) that barriers can be built of.