quotations about silence
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
WILL ROGERS
attributed, Vaudeville Old & New
Be silent or say something better than silence.
PYTHAGORAS
attributed, Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical
But still her silent looks loudly reproached me.
OVID
Amorum
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 is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
The Job: Interviews with William S. Burroughs
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
To women silence is the best ornament.
SOPHOCLES
Ajax
But my words like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the wells of silence.
PAUL SIMON
The Sound of Silence
Silence is the safety zone of conversation.
ARNOLD H. GLASOW
attributed, Reader's Digest, 1975
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"
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
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
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"
Of what is great one must either be silent or speak with greatness.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
The Will to Power
Silence on the radio ... I don't know how that works.
GARRISON KEILLOR
A Prairie Home Companion, 2006
I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue.
XENOCRATES
attributed, The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
Teeth should serve as a fence for the tongue.
ELIZA COOK
Diamond Dust
Silence is like nightfall. Objects are lost in it insensibly.
MADAME SWETCHINE
"Airelles", The Writings of Madame Swetchine