Sadness or loneliness?

Sadness or loneliness? Which is worse and why? In life, you'll have both, but if you had the option of one or the other, which would you chose? Give reasons.

I would easily choose sadness.

Based on my experiences with these two states, I find I would rather be sad but around people who care about me, than feel that I will always be alone. Not to mention that friends can help you out of your mood, and loneliness seems to bring sadness anyways.

i think disenchanted has hit the nail on the head there, sadness is the better state because of the support that people around you can give you. this is of course accepting that the people around you are people you like and want to be around, as you can feel lonely in a group of people if they are not people you feel comfortable around.

Sadness.

Loneliness insinuates a need to be with someone and so it causes sadness... they are the same thing.

Out of the two I would choose to feel loneliness.

I know most of us dont feel happy when we are lonely. And I think loneliness is just another branch of sadness, a more specific sadness, which makes the question hard to answer.

But,
I feel that someone can be lonely while still feeling content or happy. There are people who cut themselves off from the world and become hermits in a search for spiritual fulfilment. Or people that just dont do well with other people, who certainly may feel lonely, but may actually be ok with that. But they probably would not be ok with feeling sad.

Sadness is sadness, whatever way you look at it. (It is not a good feeling, but a feeling none the less. And like all other feelings has its purpose.)

So, going by the question,
Id rather feel lonely, and possibly not be unhappy from that loneliness. As opposed to sad, which, whatever way I look at it, I will always be sad.

Ever felt surrounded in a room full of people and still felt unhappy? Ever had many good friends around you (and not felt lonely) but were still unhappy?

loneliness could be a component of sadness...i think sadness is much worse because theres more than just being alone that is causing so much pain.