most of it a fabrication. He nevertheless argues that Sorabji probably had sexual encounters with men while he lived in London, citing a letter in which he wrote, "deep affection and indeed love between men is the greatest thing in life, at any rate it is in my life". He suggests that Sorabji often felt lonely, which led him "to create for himself an ideal world in which he could believe—and have his friends believe". Social life Many of Sorabji's friends were not musicians and he said that their human qualities meant more to him than their musical erudition. He sought warmth in others and said he depended emotionally on his friends' affection. He could be extremely devoted to them, though he admitted to preferring solitude. Some of his friendships, like those with Norman Peterkin or Hinton, lasted until the death of either party; others were broken. Though Sorabji had often reserved harsh words for the English, in the 1950s, he conceded he had not been objective in so doing and acknowledged that many of his close friends were or had been Englishmen. Best, Sorabji's companion, suffered from depression and multiple congenital deficiencies. Around 1970, he began taking electroconvulsive therapy, which caused him considerable anxiety. Sorabji was upset by this and Owen believes that the treatment and Best's mental health problems exacerbated their reclusiveness. Sorabji cherished his privacy (even describing himself as a "claustrophiliac") and has often been called a misanthrope. He planted more than 250 trees around his house, which had a number of notices to deter uninvited visitors. Sorabji did not like the company of two or more friends simultaneously and would accept only one at a time, each about once or twice per year. In an unpublished text titled The Fruits of Misanthropy, he justified his reclusiveness by saying, "my own failings are so great that they are as much as I can put up with in comfort—those of other people superadded I find a burden quite intolerable". Religious views Sorabji had an interest in the occult, numerology and related topics; Rapoport suggested that Sorabji chose to hide his year of birth for fear that it could be used against him. Early in his life, Sorabji published articles on the paranormal and he included occult inscriptions and references in his works. In 1922, he met the occultist Aleister Crowley, whom he shortly after dismissed as a "fraud"