Silence

"A fence to wisdom is silence."

"Some things must be said, and there are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice."

"The theme of silence can be topical or outdated. It is never out of fashion. And today, despite what many may think at first glance, it is undoubtedly topical. Perhaps more so than ever before. “As the power of language diminishes,” noted Susan Sontag, “the power of silence increases.” And ours are times in which language is seen as something corrupt. “In no century,” wrote Ignazio Silone in ‘'Pane e vino’' [the title is ‘'Vino e pane’'], "has the word been so perverted, as it is now, from its natural purpose, which is to enable people to communicate. Speaking and deceiving (often deceiving oneself) are now almost synonymous." The widespread disaffection with words stems from the realization that our speech and that of others has become mostly mere palatal facts, impersonal and banal chatter. (pp. 83-84)"

"Silence, like all good things, was at its best and costliest when absolutely pure, and it never paid to skimp on it."

"There are times when silence is the best way to yell at the top of your voice."

"There are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence."

"Behind the word is silence, and behind that silence is forgetfulness."

"The shocked silence that followed was decidedly baffled. And even, possibly, a little thoughtful, if that was not too much to hope."

"“Silence,” it has been said by one writer, “is a virtue which renders us agreeable to our fellow-creatures.”"

"All Heaven and Earth are still, though not in sleep, But breathless, as we grow when feeling most."

"Speech is of time, silence is of eternity."

"Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of Life, which they are thenceforth to rule."

"Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time."

"Silence is more eloquent than words."

"Virtutem primam esse puto, compescere linguam: proximus ille deo est qui scit ratione tacere."

"There are haunters of the silence, ghosts that hold the heart and brain."

"Timely silence, then, is precious, for it is nothing less than the mother of the wisest thoughts."

"Upon this wintry night it is so still, that listening to the intense silence is like looking at intense darkness."

"Weakness invites, but silence feasts oppression."

"Silence is always beautiful, and a silent person is always more beautiful than one who talks."

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence."

"I have expressed an opinion on public issues whenever they appeared to me so bad and unfortunate that silence would have made me feel guilty of complicity."

"I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?"

"Silence best speaks the mind."

"Nothing builds authority up like silence, splendor of the strong and shelter of the weak."

"It was so darn quiet you could hear your hair grow."

"Take heed of still waters, they quick pass away."

"Perhaps it is possible to discover more in silence than in speech. Or perhaps it is only that those who are silent among us learn to listen."

"Elected Silence, sing to me And beat upon my whorlèd ear, Pipe me to pastures still and be The music that I care to hear. Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb: It is the shut, the curfew sent From there where all surrenders come Which only makes you eloquent."

"After a lifetime of silence, it is difficult then to speak."

"Silence, according to western and eastern tradition alike, is necessary for the emergence of persons. It is taken from us by machines that ape people. We could easily be made increasingly dependent on machines for speaking and for thinking, as we are already dependent on machines for moving."

"You have asked me what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use -- silence, exile, and cunning."

"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on"

"I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of goodwill. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy, and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity."

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."

"Silence is Love's own peculiar eloquence of bliss."

"Silence is a source of great strength."

"There are grammatical errors even in his silence."

"Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance is godlike."

"The surest pledge of a deathless name Is the silent homage of thoughts unspoken."

"What I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid? To question or to speak as I believed could have meant pain, or death. But we all hurt in so many different ways, all the time, and pain will either change or end. Death, on the other hand, is the final silence."

"Your silence will not protect you."

"We can learn to work and speak when we are afraid in the same way we have learned to work and speak when we are tired. For we have been socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition, and while we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us. The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken."

"my silence floats towards you-/a bright and secret sign."

"The silence walked beside them like the ghost of a dead man."

"You know There are moments when silence, prolong'd and unbroken, More expressive may be than all words ever spoken, It is when the heart has an instinct of what In the heart of another is passing."

"You have the right to remain silent when questioned. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning, if you wish. If you decide to answer any questions now, without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?"

"… There's a joy, To the fond votaries of fame unknown, To hear the still small voice of conscience speak In whisp'ring plaudit to the silent soul."

"He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should either utter good words or better keep silence; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should treat his neighbour with kindness and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should show hospitality to his guest."

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—"

"Of what is great one must either be silent or speak with greatness. With greatness — that means cynically and with innocence."

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."

"I shall halt. Truth does not always Gain if she displays Her face unflinching; and silence is often a man’s wisest counsel."

"I know you'll speak no truth at this time. I've to be guided solely by your silence, your eyes and the inaudible appeals of your heart."

"Be silent always when you doubt your Sense."

"Silence slammed in like a thunderclap."

"In the moment of silence Agnes fancied she could hear the stalactites grow."

"All music is just performances of 4'33" in studios where another band happened to be playing at the time."

"to him who fears only your opposition...silence is consent. And silence where life and liberty is at stake, where by a timely protest we could stay the destroyer's hand, and do not do so, is as criminal as giving actual aid to the oppressor, for it answers his purpose..."

"Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence."

"Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river.When the ocean is searching for you, don't walk into the language-river. Listen to the ocean, and bring your talky business to an end Traditional words are just babbling in that presence, and babbling is a substitute for sight."

"When one intends to move or when one intends to speak, one should first examine one’s own mind and then act appropriately with composure. When one sees one’s mind to be attached or repulsed, then one should neither act nor speak, but remain still like a piece of wood. When my mind is haughty, sarcastic, full of conceit and arrogance, ridiculing, evasive and deceitful, when it is inclined to boast, or when it is contemptuous of others, abusive, and irritable, then I should remain still like a piece of wood. When my mind is averse to the interests of others and seeks my own self-interest, or when it wishes to speak out of a desire for an audience, then I will remain still like a piece of wood. When it is impatient, indolent, timid, impudent, garrulous, or biased in my own favor, then I will remain still like a piece of wood."

"Criticism should not be focused on Nazi Germany alone but extend beyond to include physicians in democratic countries, as well. Physicians outside Germany before the war, in the United States in particular were well aware of the evolving racist thrust of the health care system. They chose to remain silent."

"Be check'd for silence, But never tax'd for speech."

"I'll speak to thee in silence."

"The rest is silence."

"The saying is true "The empty vessel makes the greatest sound.""

"Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep."

"Silence is only commendable In a neat's tongue dried and a maid not vendible."

"Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy, if I could say how much."

"What; gone without a word? Ay, so true love should do: it cannot speak; For truth hath better deeds than words to grace it."

"There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very gesture."

"But my words like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the wells of silence."

"Do not too hastily conclude that silence is indifference. Indifference is not to care, not to act, not even to think or breathe. Indifference is inhuman and inhumane. Silence, on the other hand, is almost always premeditated, a willful act. Without silence there would be no sound."

"The things you do not have to say make you rich. Saying the things you do not have to say weakens your talk. Hearing the things you do not need to hear dulls your hearing. And the things you know before you hear them, these are you, and this is why you are in the world."

"Expressing not to you; but with you, I've bound my love silently unheard and unseen from anywhere."

"As our bankrupt civilization draws to its close, and as the violence of the powerful against the weak, of the rich against the poor, of the few against the many, becomes more and more apparent, ... to refrain from mentioning it becomes more and more clearly a political act, an act of censorship or cowardice."

"Silence, beautiful voice."

"A still tongue makes a happy life."

"Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech."

"It must be understood that the silence referred to by the adjective ‘mystical’ is not external, esoteric silence, intended to conceal secret truths from the ‘uninitiated’, but rather inner silence, which consists in silencing one’s thoughts, however profound they may be, and therefore in detachment, especially from all our supposed knowledge. Detachment is the work of intelligence, which incessantly recognizes the finiteness of its own contents and, at the same time, of the will, which incessantly recognizes in those same contents the presence of egoism, of that amor sui that is truly the root of all evil."

"I have loved quiet in a leafy glade Where boughs embrace above a flowering way, Deep amber pools at sunset where the stray Soft twilight colors stain the willow shade And woodlands where sweet silence dwells."

"To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men. The human race Has climbed on protest. Had no voice been raised Against injustice, ignorance, and lust, The inquisition yet would serve the law, And guillotines decide our least disputes. The few who dare, must speak and speak again To right the wrongs of many. Speech, thank God, No vested power in this great day and land Can gag or throttle. Press and voice may cry Loud disapproval of existing ills; May criticise oppression and condemn The lawlessness of wealth-protecting laws That let the children and childbearers toil To purchase ease for idle millionaires. Therefore I do protest against the boast Of independence in this mighty land. Call no chain strong, which holds one rusted link. Call no land free, that holds one fettered slave. Until the manacled slim wrists of babes Are loosed to toss in childish sport and glee, Until the mother bears no burden, save The precious one beneath her heart, until God's soil is rescued from the clutch of greed And given back to labor, let no man Call this the land of freedom."

"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen."

"The best way to describe silence is to say nothing—but what grace!"

"Silence has weight. It’s not just between sounds—it is a sound."

"But silence never shows itself to so great an advantage, as when it is made the reply to calumny and defamation, provided that we give no just occasion for them."

"Alta vendetta D'alto silenzio è figlia."

"Qui tacet, consentire videtur."

"Le silence est l'esprit das sots, Et l'une des vertus du sage."

"Three things are ever silent—Thought, Destiny, and the Grave."

"There was silence deep as death; And the boldest held his breath, For a time."

"Speech is great; but silence is greater."

"Cum tacent clamant."

"And they three passed over the white sands, between the rocks, silent as the shadows."

"Striving to tell his woes, words would not come; For light cares speak, when mighty griefs are dumb."

"Il ne voit que la nuit, n'entend que le silence."

"Silence is the mother of Truth."

"A horrid stillness first invades the ear, And in that silence we the tempest fear."

"Stillborn silence! thou that art Flood-gate of the deeper heart!"

"Small griefs find tongues: full casques are ever found To give, if any, yet but little sound. Deep waters noyselesse are; and this we know, That chiding streams betray small depth below."

"And silence, like a poultice, comes To heal the blows of sound."

"There is a silence where hath been no sound, There is a silence where no sound may be, In the cold grave—under the deep, deep sea, Or in wide desert where no life is found, Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound."

"Est et fideli tuta silentio merces."

"Not much talk—a great, sweet silence."

"Vessels never give so great a sound as when they are empty."

"Rarus sermo illis et magna libido tacendi."

"Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time."

"Les gens sans bruit sont dangereux; Il n'en est pas ainsi des autres."

"Some sipping punch, some sipping tea, But as you by their faces see All silent and all damned."

"All was silent as before— All silent save the dripping rain."

"What shall I say to you? What can I say Better than silence is?"

"Three Silences there are: the first of speech, The second of desire, the third of thought."

"Where the streame runneth smoothest, the water is deepest."

"I have known the silence of the stars and of the sea, And the silence of the city when it pauses, And the silence of a man and a maid, And the silence for which music alone finds the word."

"Dixisse me, inquit, aliquando pœnituit, tacuisse nunquam."

"Nothing is more useful than silence."

"That silence is one of the great arts of conversation is allowed by Cicero himself, who says, there is not only an art, but even an eloquence in it."

"Silence sweeter is than speech."

"Be silent and safe—silence never betrays you."

"Sed taciti fecere tamen convicia vultus."

"Sæpe tacens vocem verbaque vultus habet."

"Exigua est virtus præstare silentia rebus; At contra, gravis est culpa tacenda loqui."

"Silence sleeping on a waste of ocean."

"Remember what Simonides said,—that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken."

"Said Periander, "Hesiod might as well have kept his breath to cool his pottage.""

"La douleur qui se tait n'en est que plus funeste."

"Silence in love bewrays more woe Than words, though ne'er so witty; A beggar that is dumb, you know, May challenge double pity."

"The silente man still suffers wrong."

"Silence more musical than any song."

"Altissima quæque flumina minimo sono labuntur."

"Doch große Seelen dulden still."

"Bekker schweigt in sieben Sprachen."

"Wise Men say nothing in dangerous times."

"Tacere multis discitur vitæ malis."

"Silence! Oh, well are Death and Sleep and Thou Three brethren named, the guardians gloomy-winged, Of one abyss, where life and truth and joy Are swallowed up."

"Shallow brookes murmur moste, deepe silent slide away."

"Macaulay is like a book in breeches * * * He has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful."

"Le silence du peuple est la leçon des rois."

"Woman, to women silence is the best ornament."

"To me so deep a silence portends some dread event; a clamorous sorrow wastes itself in sound."

"The deepest rivers make least din, The silent soule doth most abound in care."

"But let me silent be: For silence is the speech of love, The music of the spheres above."

"Of every noble work the silent part is best, Of all expression, that which cannot be expressed."

"And I too talk, and lose the touch I talk of. Surely, after all, The noblest answer unto such Is kindly silence when they brawl."

"Our noisy years seem moments in the being Of the eternal Silence."

"No sound is uttered,—but a deep And solemn harmony pervades The hollow vale from steep to steep, And penetrates the glades."

"The silence that is in the starry sky."

"In some causes silence is dangerous; so if any know of conspiracies against their country or king, or any that might greatly prejudice their neighbor, they ought to discover it."

"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact."

"Grosse Seelen dulden still."

"When love speaks in silence, even the wind learns to listen."

"Hiljaisuus kuuluu paremmin kuin huuto. (Ylihärmä, Southern Bothnia) (RRO)"