“I speak as I must and cannot be silent.”

—  Joanne Harris , book Runemarks

Source: Runemarks

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Joanne Harris photo
Joanne Harris 46
British author 1964

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Ludwig Wittgenstein photo

“Translated: Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”

7
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
Also: About what one can not speak, one must remain silent. (7)
Source: 1920s, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922)

Meher Baba photo

“I am never silent. I speak eternally.”

Meher Baba (1894–1969) Indian mystic

"I Speak Eternally" http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/ispeak.html in Love Alone Prevails (1981) by Kitty Davy, p. 166, 179.
General sources
Context: External silence helps to achieve inner Silence, and only in internal Silence is Baba found — in profound inner Silence. I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is My voice — the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. Through those who are receptive to this voice, I speak.

Alain Badiou photo

“It is thus quite simply false that whereof one cannot speak (in the sense of 'there is nothing to say about it that specifies it and grants it separating properties'), thereof one must be silent. It must on the contrary be named.”

Alain Badiou (1937) French writer and philosopher

Original French: Il est donc tout simplement faux que ce dont on ne peut parler (au sens ou il n'y a rien à en dire qui le spécifie, qui lui accorde des propriétés séparatrices), il faille le taire. Il faut au contraire le nommer...
From Manifesto for Philosophy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. ISBN 0791442209.
The quote is a commentary on Ludwig Wittgenstein, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent".

Rukmini Devi Arundale photo

“Animals cannot speak, but can you and I not speak for them and represent them? Let us all feel their silent cry of agony and let us all help that cry to be heard in the world.”

Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904–1986) Indian Bharatnatyam dancer

Quotations:Rukmini Devi Arundale, 1 December 2013, publisher-All Creatures Organization http://www.all-creatures.org/aro/q-arundale-rukminidevi.html,

Victor Hugo photo

“If I speak, I am condemned.
If I stay silent, I am damned!”

Source: Les Misérables

Martin Niemöller photo

“When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.”

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr,
der protestieren konnte.
"First they came..." – The origins of this poem first have been traced to a speech given by Niemöller on January 6, 1946, to the representatives of the Confessing Church in Frankfurt. According to research http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/niem.htm by Harold Marcuse, the original groups mentioned in the speech were Communists, the incurably sick, Jews, and people in occupied countries. Since then, the contents have often been altered to produce numerous variants. Niemöller himself came up with different versions, depending on the year. The most famous and well known alterations are perhaps those beginning "First they came for the Jews" of which this is one of the more commonly encountered:
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Another variant extends the comparisons to incude Catholics and Protestants:
In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Other translations or variants:
In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.
Twenty-five years later Niemöller indicated that this was the version he preferred, in a 1971 interview.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I did not speak out;
As I was not a communist. <p> When they locked up the social democrats,
I did not speak out;
I was not a social democrat. <p> When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
As I was not a trade unionist. <p> When they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
As I was not a Jew. <p> When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
When the Nazis arrested the Communists,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Communist.
When they locked up the Social Democrats,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Social Democrat.
When they arrested the trade unionists,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a trade unionist.
When they arrested me, there was no longer anyone who could protest.
First the Nazis came…
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me —
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Online source for German quote: Martin Niemöller Stiftung, 22.09.2005, Wiesbaden http://www.martin-niemoeller-stiftung.de/4/daszitat/a31

Sylvia Plath photo

“Now I am silent, hate
Up to my neck,
Thick, thick.
I do not speak.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Source: Ariel: The Restored Edition

Friedrich Nietzsche photo
Max Weber photo

“For the true mystic the principle continues to hold: the creature must be silent so that God may speak.”

Max Weber (1864–1920) German sociologist, philosopher, and political economist

Max Weber, , 1916.
Context: Mysticism intends a state of "possession," not action, and the individual is not a tool but a "vessel" of the divine. Action in the world must thus appear as endangering the absolutely irrational and other-worldly religious state. Active asceticism operates within the world; rationally active asceticism, in mastering the world, seeks to tame what is creatural and wicked through work in a worldly "vocation" (inner-worldly asceticism). Such asceticism contrasts radically with mysticism, if the latter draws the full conclusion of fleeing from the world (contemplative flight from the world). The contrast is tempered, however, if active asceticism confines itself to keeping down and to overcoming creatural wickedness in the actor's own nature. For then it enhances the concentration on the firmly established God-willed and active redemptory accomplishments to the point of avoiding any action in the orders of the world (asceticist flight from the world). Thereby active asceticism in external bearing comes close to contemplative flight from the world. The contrast between asceticism and mysticism is also tempered if the contemplative mystic does not draw the conclusion that he should flee from the world, but, like the inner-worldly asceticist, remain in the orders of the world (inner-worldly mysticism).
In both cases the contrast can actually disappear in practice and some combination of both forms of the quest for salvation may occur. But the contrast may continue to exist even under the veil of external similarity. For the true mystic the principle continues to hold: the creature must be silent so that God may speak.

Golda Meir photo

“My delegation cannot refrain from speaking on this question — we who have such an intimate knowledge of boxcars and of deportations to unknown destinations that we cannot be silent.”

Golda Meir (1898–1978) former prime minister of Israel

On Soviet actions in Hungary to the UN General Assembly (21 November 1956)

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