quotations about silence
Silence is like nightfall. Objects are lost in it insensibly.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine
The true genius shudders at incompleteness -- imperfection -- and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said.
EDGAR ALLAN POE
Marginalia
Of what is great one must either be silent or speak with greatness.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
The Will to Power
To which Silence of course made no reply, letting him hear what he had said and feel its foolishness thoroughly.
URSULA K. LE GUIN
Tales from Earthsea
I love your silences, they are like mine.
ANAIS NIN
Under a Glass Bell
Deep vengeance is the daughter of deep silence.
VITTORIO ALFIERI
La Congiura de' Pazzi
Silence is so freaking loud.
SARAH DESSEN
Just Listen
Down through the starry intervals,
Upon this weary-laden world,
How soft the soul of Silence falls!
How deep the spell wherewith she thralls,
How wide her mantle is unfurled.
MARY CLEMMER AMES
"Silence"
I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue.
XENOCRATES
attributed, The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
Well-timed silence is the most commanding expression.
MARK HELPRIN
attributed, Quotable Quotes
Saying nothing ... sometimes says the most.
EMILY DICKINSON
letter to Mrs. Joseph A. Sweetser, January 1874
Silence is one of the hardest kinds of arguments to refute.
H. W. SHAW
attributed, Day's Collacon
He never labored so hard to learn a language as he did to hold his tongue.
HENRY ADAMS
The Education of Henry Adams
There are haunters of the silence, ghosts that hold the heart and brain.
MADISON CAWEIN
Haunters of the Silence
Three things are ever silent--Thought, Destiny, and the Grave.
EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON
Harold
Silence is learned by the many misfortunes of life.
SENECA
Thyestes
Behind the word is silence. Behind that silence is forgetfulness.
GIANNINA BRASCHI
Empire of Dreams
It's not the shouting
Or the angry words
It's not those looks
Sideways glancing
It's not do as I say
It's not compliance
It's the silence
COREY GLOVER
"Silence"
Speech is often barren; but silence also does not necessarily brood over a full nest.
GEORGE ELIOT
Felix Holt
There are some things best contemplated in silence. Their proportions are so vast that speech cannot get around them.
CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought