Quotes about silence

A collection of quotes on the topic of silence.

„There was good reason for the silence of the Holy Spirit as to how, when, in what form Christ ordained the apostles, the reason being to show the indifferency of all forms of words.“

— John Wycliffe English theologian and early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church 1320 - 1384
Latin statement in De Quattuor Sectis Novellis, as translated in Typical English Churchmen (1909) by John Neville Figgis, p. 16

Christ, Indifference

„To be an artist, you need to exist in a world of silence.“

— Louise Bourgeois American and French sculptor 1911 - 2010

World

„Art destroys silence.“

— Dmitri Shostakovich Russian composer and pianist 1906 - 1975
Testimony: The Memoirs

Art

„What keeps my heart awake is colorful silence.“

— Claude Monet French impressionist painter 1840 - 1926

Color, Heart

„Comrades, there is no true social revolution without the liberation of women. May my eyes never see and my feet never take me to a society where half the people are held in silence. I hear the roar of women’s silence. I sense the rumble of their storm and feel the fury of their revolt.“

— Thomas Sankara, Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle

Women, People, Feeling, Sense

„The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence. I knew perfectly well the cars were making a noise, and the people in them and behind the lit windows of the buildings were making a noise, and the river was making a noise, but I couldn't hear a thing. The city hung in my window, flat as a poster, glittering and blinking, but it might just as well not have been there at all, for the good it did me.“

— Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Ch. 2

People, Cars

„Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences; all events are blessings given to us to learn from.“

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross American psychiatrist 1926 - 2004
Context: Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences; all events are blessings given to us to learn from. There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub. As quoted in " Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Messenger of Love https://books.google.com/books?id=3esDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=%22Yoga+Journal%22+Kronisch&source=bl&ots=B895e3lzeI&sig=7V4uALc6CTiPrF02-cV8AAzsgbw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM1enasPLSAhWs6oMKHbpyAbQQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22Elisabeth%20Kubler-Ross%22&f=false" by Lennie Kronisch in Yoga Journal, Issue 11, November-December 1976, pp. 18-20

Life, Learning

„Beside themselves with passion, some of them would not be backward even about scheming to suppress and silence their adversaries.“

— Galileo Galilei Italian mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer 1564 - 1642
Context: In the long run my observations have convinced me that some men, reasoning preposterously, first establish some conclusion in their minds which, either because of its being their own or because of their having received it from some person who has their entire confidence, impresses them so deeply that one finds it impossible ever to get it out of their heads. Such arguments in support of their fixed idea as they hit upon themselves or hear set forth by others, no matter how simple and stupid these may be, gain their instant acceptance and applause. On the other hand whatever is brought forward against it, however ingenious and conclusive, they receive with disdain or with hot rage — if indeed it does not make them ill. Beside themselves with passion, some of them would not be backward even about scheming to suppress and silence their adversaries. p. 322

Passion

„How I suffered when I had to preach to you those pious lies that I detest in my heart. What remorse your credulity caused me! A thousand times I was on the point of breaking out publicly and opening your eyes, but a fear stronger than myself held me back, and forced me to keep silence until my death.“

— Jean Meslier French priest 1664 - 1729
Quoted in Thinker: Jean Meslier by Colin Brewer, in rationalist.org (3 July 2007) http://rationalist.org.uk/articles/1425/thinker-jean-meslier

Death, Fear, Suffering, Time

„You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.“

— Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes

„What cannot be said above all must not be silenced but written.“

— Jacques Derrida French philosopher (1930-2004) 1930 - 2004

„A million words cannot express what a glance can convey, and a million glances cannot express what a moment of silence can.“

— Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spiritual leader 1956
Context: A million words cannot express what a glance can convey, and a million glances cannot express what a moment of silence can. A moment of silence conveys so much more than any other expression. Still, love is beyond silence too. You can describe silence to some extent, but that which is beyond silence cannot be expressed. You give, you hug... but still something remains unexpressed. Narada Bhakti Sutras (2001)

„If I ventured in the slipstream,
Between the viaducts of your dream,
Where immobile steel rims crack,
And the ditch in the back roads stop,
Could you find me?
Would you kiss my eyes?
To lay me down,
In silence easy,
To be born again.
To be born again.“

— Van Morrison Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician 1945
Astral Weeks

Dreams, Kiss

„The music is not in the notes,
but in the silence between.“

— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Austrian Romantic composer 1756 - 1791

Music

„Become a fertile ground for the divine birth. Cherish this deep silence within, nourish it“

— Johannes Tauler German theologian 1300 - 1361
Context: Become a fertile ground for the divine birth. Cherish this deep silence within, nourish it Cherish this deep silence within, nourish it frequently frequently. Quoted in "Johannes Tauler: Sermons" translated by Maria Shardy

Birth

„Your silence will not protect you.“

— Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
essay "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action", in Sister Outsider