quotations about silence
Be check'd for silence,
But never tax'd for speech.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
All's Well That Ends Well
To women silence is the best ornament.
SOPHOCLES
Ajax
When Silence speaks for Love, she has much to say.
RICHARD GARNETT
De Flagello Myrtes
Be silent or say something better than silence.
PYTHAGORAS
attributed, Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
WILL ROGERS
attributed, Vaudeville Old & New
Silence is so freaking loud.
SARAH DESSEN
Just Listen
But still her silent looks loudly reproached me.
OVID
Amorum
The surest pledge of a deathless name
Is the silent homage of thoughts unspoken.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"The Herons of Elmwood", Keramos and Other Poems
There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very gesture.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Winter's Tale
Silence is a figure of speech, unanswerable, short, cold, but terribly severe.
THEODORE PARKER
"Justice and the Conscience", The Collected Works of Theodore Parker: Sermons & Prayers
In positions of power, silence is not an option.
MAGNUS LINKLATER
"In positions of power, silence is not an option", The Times, September 3, 2017
Oh Mary of silence
You pick my heart with a smile
Oh sweet Mary
Come inside for a while
Help me get a hold on you
MAZZY STAR
"Mary of Silence"
Silence is a profound teacher and a hard taskmaster. Learn her art when it is offered; there is much to hear within her temple!
LY DE ANGELES
Witchcraft: Theory and Practice
Silence on the radio ... I don't know how that works.
GARRISON KEILLOR
A Prairie Home Companion, 2006
Every man whose business it is to think knows that he must for part of the day create about himself a pool of silence.
WALTER LIPPMANN
Public Opinion
What scientists have discovered is that silence allows an area of the brain, called the hippocampus, to do what it does best. And since the hippocampus is where our memories are stored and where we process our emotions ... it is critical to learning. Silence gives this really important part of the brain the opportunity to process, consolidate and strengthen itself.
JUSTIN COULSON
The Advertiser, August 29, 2017
If silence is golden like they say it be
If silence is golden then how rich I must be
LYNN ANDERSON
"If Silence Is Golden"
Here may be the real secret of silence. It may lie in the quality of impression that we receive in our consciousness. If we allow ourselves to be impressed by ugly things, by thoughts of strife and bitterness and hate, there is no silence for us. But if we receive only impressions of beauty and love, then we need never be afraid. In ourselves we shall find the companionship of peace. We shall be constantly solaced with silence.
JOHN DANIEL BARRY
"Silence", Reactions and Other Essays Discussing Those States of Feeling and Attitude of Mind That Find Expression In Our Individual Qualities
Of what is great one must either be silent or speak with greatness.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
The Will to Power
Silence is like nightfall. Objects are lost in it insensibly.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine