“Saying nothing sometimes says the most.”

— Emily Dickinson

Last update Feb. 22, 2025. History

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Emily Dickinson 187

American poet 1830–1886

Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer

Source: Firefly Lane

“Say the most personal thing, say it, nothing else matters, don’t be ashamed, the generalities can be found in the newspaper.”

Elias Canetti (1905–1994) Bulgarian-born Swiss and British jewish modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer

J. Agee, trans. (1989), p. 143
Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock] (1987)

“Sometimes you say things in songs even if there's a small chance of them being true. And sometimes you say things that have nothing to do with the truth of what you want to say and sometimes you say things that everyone knows to be true. Then again, at the same time, you're thinking that the only truth on earth is that there is no truth on it. Whatever you are saying, you're saying in a ricky-tick way. There's never time to reflect. You stitched and pressed and packed and drove, is what you did.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Source: Chronicles: Vol. One (2004), p. 220

“Perhaps sometimes life shows you a side of itself which leaves you with nothing more to say”

Alessandro Baricco book Silk

Source: Silk

“My motto is to always do your homework before any meeting or event, and to always dress for the occasion. Sometimes I say that it’s better to say nothing than to speak with no purpose!”

Brigitte Lin (1954) Taiwanese actress

As quoted in "Brigitte Lin on the Hong Kong Film Industry’s Golden Age" in Hong Kong Tatler (7 November 2012) https://hk.asiatatler.com/life/brigitte-lin-on-the-hong-kong-film-industry-s-golden-age

“He sometimes tells himself that there is nothing more to be said, simply because he won’t get around to saying it.—How contemptible!”

Elias Canetti (1905–1994) Bulgarian-born Swiss and British jewish modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer

J. Agee, trans. (1989), p. 92
Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock] (1987)

“Most people talk when they have nothing to say. I’m not talking because I have too much to say. None of which I’d want you to hear.”

Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist

Source: Charmed Thirds

“To say anything was useless, to say nothing was cowardly.”

Bernard Cornwell (1944) British writer

Captain Richard Sharpe, in response to the suggestion of whipping sixty men, p. 151
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Eagle (1981)
Context: To say anything was useless, to say nothing was cowardly. "I think it a bad idea, Sir."

“Sometimes doing nothing is the most productive thing in the world.”

Ralph Smart

“To have nothing to say and to say it in a tragic manner is not the same thing as having something to say.”

Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) American poet

Opus Posthumous (1955), Adagia

“Saying nothing sometimes says the most.”

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Emily Dickinson 187

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