Silence

"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."

"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."

"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."