Thursday, August 3, 2017

Silence

Silence

In an attempt to balance last week’s post regarding the etymologies of noisy words, here are some quotes about silence.

First, three eloquent ways of saying the same thing: 

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of that fact.
-George Eliot

In silence man can most readily preserve his integrity.
-Meister Echkart

Never miss the opportunity to keep your mouth shut.
Robert Newton Peck


And on to the darker side of silence:

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. 
-Dr. Martin Luther King

Silence isn’t always golden, you know. Sometimes it’s just plain yellow.
-Jan Kemp

The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others & hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, & from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light & life flow no longer into our souls.
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton


And last, some votes of confidence:

Silence is all the genius a fool has.
-Zora Neale Hurston

Of those who say nothing, few are silent.
-Thomas Neill

Silence is not a thing we make; it is something into which we enter. It is always there…All we can make is noise.
-Mother Maribel of Wantage

I’m hoping you’ll use the comments section to let me know which of these quotes you’ve never heard, &/or which ones made you stop & think.



12 comments:

  1. Jack has started to say, "Shhhh, quiet." He stops what he's doing, plops down, and enjoys the silence for a few minutes. It's so cute to just watch him lay there thinking and imagining. With all the racket (throw back to last week) from technology and toys, it's easy to forget that kids need a little quiet time, too. Reminds me of how the kids drank in your silent reading Thursdays.

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    1. Hey Heather - Thanks so much for coming by. I'm with you on that need for silence. And in this modern world it's tougher & tougher for kids to experience any sort of silence. Bravo to you & Matt for providing Jack some silence & the room to appreciate it.

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  2. Mother Maribel of Wantage is the comment I most cherish, though perhaps I should have done so in silence.

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    1. Hey Steve -- And "Mother Maribel of Wantage" has got to be one of the better monikers I've seen in a while.

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  3. The Dr. King quote is new to me, and brilliantly powerful. They are all worth repeating!

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    1. Hi Leslie -- There are so many quotes (& mis-worded or mis-attributed quotes) floating around in the ether I question when it seems time to fill a post with quotes. I'm pleased to have introduced you to a new one. Thanks for coming by.

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  4. I thought you were going to talk about tinnitus!

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    1. Oy. If I were to write about tinnitus I'd have to think about it, which is something I work hard not to do.

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  5. I had not heard the Jan Kemp comment. Funny and powerful. Love all of these!

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    1. I like the Jan Kemp quote. Though it's wordy, I think my favorite is the EC Stanton. Thanks for coming by, Anne.

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  6. Wow! I love all of these, the funny and the profound. And silence...I love silence.

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    1. Hey Christine -- I'm with you. There's nothing that compares to silence, though I can see Dr. King's point, too.

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