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The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenements halls and whispered in the sounds of silence. Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence
Ted: Now, Dougal, don’t over-react … It’s Father Stone ... Get up … I know. I tried but it’s like talking to a wall with a moustache. Those awful protracted silences. Father Ted s1e2: Entertaining Father Stone, Channel 4 1995
I couldn’t have done it otherwise, gone on I mean. I could not have gone on through the awful mess of life without having left a stain upon the silence. Samuel Beckett, cited Deirdre Bair, 1978
Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness. Samuel Beckett
Listen closely... the eternal hush of silence goes on and on throughout all this, and has been going on, and will go on and on. This is because the world is nothing but a dream and is just thought of and the everlasting eternity pays no attention to it. Jack Kerouac
In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies ... but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, attributions & variations
The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people. Martin Luther King
A time comes when silence is betrayal. Martin Luther King, cited Ken Burns & Lynn Novick, The Vietnam War IV
My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence. Edith Sitwell
’Tis good to be sad and say nothing. William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Jaques, Globe Theatre, Sky Arts 2012
The rest is silence. William Shakespeare, Hamlet V ii 372
Silence that dreadful bell! It frights the isle
From her propriety. William Shakespeare, Othello II iii 177
Silence is so accurate. Mark Rothko
Shut the fuck up, you cunt. Ray Donovan s1e8 starring Liev Schreiber & Paul Malcomson & Jon Voight & Eddie Marson & Dash Mihok & Steven Bauer et al, Sully to wife, Showtime 2013
Don’t you hate that? Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it necessary to yack about bullshit in order to be comfortable? That’s when you know you’ve found somebody really special: when you can just shuck the fuck up for a minute and share a comfortable silence. Pulp Fiction 1994 ***** starring Uma Thurman & John Travolta & Samuel L Jackson & Harvey Keitel & Tim Roth & Amanda Plummer & Maria de Medeiros & Ving Rhames & Eric Stoltz & Rosanna Arquette & Bruce Willis & Christopher Walken et al, director Quentin Tarantino, Mia to Vincent
You’re so talkative tonight we couldn’t stand the silence without you. Wash your hands! The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover 1989 starring Helen Mirren & Alan Howard & Richard Bohringer & Tim Roth & Michael Gambon & Ian Drury & Cairan Hinds & Gary Olsen & Ewan Stewart & Liz Smith et al, director Peter Greenway
Max Ehrmann: Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember there may be peace in silence ... Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright 2010 starring Andy Garcia & Aidan Quinn & Mario von Peebles & Jordan Belfi & Corbin Bernsen & Luke Goss & Gary Daniels & Raymond J Barry & Danny Pinoet al, director R Ellis Frazier, caption
The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel, attributions & variations
To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, attributions & variations
Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly. Mahatma Gandhi
In the attitude of silence what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Mahatma Gandhi
Silence is golden. Mid-19th century proverb
Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. Leonardo da Vinci
Your silence gives consent. Plato
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. Abraham Lincoln, misattributed, possibly Maurice Switzer 1907
Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence. Henri Frederic Amiel
Even silence and inaction may in some circumstances be interpreted as an expression of willingness. Failure to resist or protest indicates consent if a reasonable person who is aware of the consequences and capable of protest or resistance would voice his objection. J Fleming, Law of Torts
Through the friendly silence of the soundless moonlight. Virgil, Aeneid
With silence favour me. [Favete Linguis] Horace
Silence alone is great; all else is feebleness. Alfred de Vigny, La Mort du Loup, 1843
Silence is the virtue of fools. Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, De Dignitate et Augmentis Scientiarum
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. Max Ehrmann, 1872-1945, Desiderata 1948
Calumnies are answered best with silence. Ben Jonson, Volpone, 1606
Sometimes the silences, the gaps, tell us more than anything else. Peter Ackroyd, First Light
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. Proverbs 17:28
The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. Psalms 115:17
Some man holdeth his tongue, because he hath not to answer: and some keepeth silence, knowing his time.
A wise man will hold his tongue till he see opportunity: but a babbler and a fool will regard no time. Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 20:6&7
Your silence will not protect you. Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
God is silent. Now if only man would shut up. Woody Allen
He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words. Elbert Hubbard
You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion. Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes