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Silence


Silence

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Quotations

Mark TwainIt is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

—  Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer

44 likes
Victor HugoIt is not easy to keep silent when silence is a lie.

—  Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer

23 likes
Albert EinsteinIf A is success in life, then A = x + y + z. Work is x, play is y and z is keeping your mouth shut.

—  Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-Jewish physicist

15 likes
Mahatma GandhiSpeak only if it improves upon the silence.

—  Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence

11 likes
Mark TwainThe right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

—  Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer

10 likes
Søren KierkegaardI found I had less and less to say, until finally, I became silent, and began to listen. I discovered in the silence, the voice of God.

—  Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish philosopher

10 likes
Comte de MirabeauThe silence of the people is the lesson of kings.

—  Comte de Mirabeau, 1749-1791, main figure of the French Revolution

9 likes
Blaise PascalThe eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.

—  Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French thinker

8 likes
Winston ChurchillWhen the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.

—  Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953

6 likes
José SaramagoThey say that each person is an island, this is not true, each person is a silence, yes, each with his silence, each with the silence that he is.

—  José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998]

6 likes
Charles Caleb ColtonSilence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish.

—  Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832, English cleric & writer

5 likes
Georges ClemenceauAll the great pleasures of life are silent.

—  Georges Clemenceau, 1841-1929, French Prime Minister

5 likes
Martin Luther KingIn the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

—  Martin Luther King, 1929-1968, American leader in the Civil Rights Movement

5 likes
Elbert HubbardHe who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.

—  Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer

5 likes
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSilence does not always mark wisdom.

—  Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772-1834, English poet & philosopher

4 likes
Francis BaconSilence is the virtue of a fool.

—  Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher

4 likes
Rudyard KiplingThe air was full of all the night noises that, taken together, make one big silence…

—  Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936, English writer, Nobel 1907

4 likes
Jorge Luis BorgesDon't talk unless you can improve the silence.

—  Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer

4 likes
Søren KierkegaardIf I were a physician, and if I were allowed to prescribe just one remedy for all the ills of the modern world, I would prescribe silence.

—  Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish philosopher

4 likes
ConfuciusSilence is a true friend who never betrays.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

3 likes
Eugene O’NeillGod gave us mouths that close and ears that don't... that should tell us something.

—  Eugene O’Neill, 1888-1953, American playwright, Nobel 1936

3 likes
Graham GreeneSo it always is: when you escape to a desert the silence shouts in your ear.

—  Graham Greene, 1904-1991, British writer

3 likes
Calvin CoolidgeI have noticed that nothing I have never said ever did me any harm.

—  Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, American President [1923-1929]

2 likes
John DrydenVirgil had the gift of expressing much in little, and sometimes in silence.

—  John Dryden, 1631-1700, English poet

2 likes
Marguerite YourcenarSilence is made of unsaid words.

—  Marguerite Yourcenar, 1903-1987, French writer

1 likes
Arthur Conan DoyleYou have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.

—  Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859-1930, British writer

Rainer Maria RilkeSince I’ve learned to be silent, everything has come so much closer to me.

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet

Thomas CarlyleSilence is as deep as eternity, speech a shallow as time.

—  Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, English writer

Thomas CarlyleSilence is more eloquent than words.

—  Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, English writer

Gertrude SteinI have always noticed that in portraits of really great writers the mouth is always firmly closed.

—  Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946, American writer

Franz KafkaNow the Sirens have a still more fatal weapon than their song, namely their silence.

—  Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer

Joseph JoubertAre you listening to the ones who keep quiet?

—  Joseph Joubert, 1754-1824, French author of maxims

Muhammad AliSilence is golden when you can't think of a good answer.

—  Muhammad Ali, 1942-2016, American boxer

William Hazlitt The most silent people are generally those who think most highly of themselves.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

Robert Louis StevensonThe cruelest lies are often told in silence.

—  Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894, Scottish writer

Erica JongSilence is the bluntest of blunt instruments.

—  Erica Jong, 1942-, American writer

Henri JeansonWho would deny that sound cinema has made us discover silence? Silence is the most beautiful conquest of speaking.

—  Henri Jeanson, 1900-1970, French critic & columnist

Alexandre DumasSilence is the last joy of the unhappy.

—  Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer

Alexandre DumasFor all evils there are two remedies: time and silence.

—  Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer

Ashleigh BrilliantIf you have something to say and say nothing, you are really telling a lie.

—  Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-, British cartoonist & epigrammatist

José SaramagoGod is the silence of the universe, and man is the cry that gives meaning to that silence.

—  José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998]

Marty RubinSilence may be golden but it solves nothing.

—  Marty Rubin, 1930-1994, Canadian gay activist, author & journalist

Emily DickinsonI have an appetite for silence.

—  Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, American poet

Milan KunderaNo love can survive muteness.

—  Milan Kundera, 1929-2023, Czech writer

Susan SontagSilence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.

—  Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist

Leonardo da VinciNothing strengthens authority so much as silence.

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

Latin Quotes

Without the sun I fall silent.

Sine sole sileo.

—  Medieval Sundial motto

31 likes
Latin phraseHe who is silent consents.

Qui tacet consentit.

—  Latin phrase

30 likes

Quotes in Verse

Sylvia PlathThe silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence.

—  Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963, American poet & writer

2 likes
Odysseas ElytisAll cypresses show midnight.
All fingers
Silence.

—  Odysseas Elytis, 1911-1996, Greek poet, Nobel 1979

Funny Quotes

Will RogersNever miss a good chance to shut up.

—  Will Rogers, 1879-1935, American actor

6 likes

Ancient Greek

MenanderFor all women silence is beauty.

Γυναιξί πάσαις κόσμον η σιγή φέρει.

—  Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy)

13 likes
EuripidesYour very silence is as good as a confession.

Αυτό δε τo σιγάν ομολογούντος εστί σου.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Iphigeneia at Aulis

10 likes
SolonDon’t talk about the things you don’t know and when you know, don’t say anything.

Ο αν μη ίδης, μη λέγε. Ειδώς σιγά.

—  Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher

7 likes
MenanderSilence alone is not an apology.

Μόνη σιγή μεταμέλειαν ου φέρει.

—  Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy)

6 likes
EuripidesSilence is true wisdom’s best reply.

Η γαρ σιωπή τοις σοφοίς απόκρισις.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian

6 likes
Ancient Greek phraseBeing silent is better than talking.

Κρείττον του λαλείν το σιγάν.

—  Ancient Greek phrase

4 likes
PindarOften is man’s best wisdom to be silent.

Το σιγάν πολλάκις εστί σοφώτατον ανθρώπω νοήσαι.

—  Pindar, 522-438 BC, Ancient Greek lyric poet

2 likes
EuripidesYou do not speak? But silence is a poor interpreter of words.

Σιγάς; Σιωπή δ’ άπορος ερμηνεύς λόγων.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Andromeda

2 likes
AeschylusAs to the rest I am silent. A big ox stands upon my tongue.

Τα δ’ άλλα σιγώ. Βους επί γλώσσηι μέγας βέβηκεν.

—  Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Agamemnon

2 likes

Proverbs

American Indian proverbBeware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.

—  American Indian proverb ‐ Cheyenne

7 likes
International proverbSilence is golden.

—  International proverb

2 likes



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Solitude

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