Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Silence heals all ills.
—Hebrew Proverb
Speech is silver, silence is golden.
—Common Proverb
I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) Irish Novelist, Playwright
If silence is becoming to a wise man, how much more so to a fool?
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Silence was never written down.
—Italian Proverb
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that really matter.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Silence, when nothing need be said, is the eloquence of discretion.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence … we need silence to be able to touch souls.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
Silence is exhilarating at first – as noise is – but there is a sweetness to silence outlasting exhilaration, akin to the sweetness of listening and the velvet of sleep.
—Edward Hoagland (b.1932) American Essayist, Novelist
A silent mouth is sweet to hear
—Unknown
Silence is the ornament and safeguard of the ignorant.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
There is a silence, the child of love, which expresses everything, and proclaims more loudly than the tongue is able to do.
—Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803) Italian Poet, Dramatist
Silence does not always mark wisdom.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Odd how much it hurts when a friend moves away – and leaves behind only silence.
—Pam Brown (b.1948) Australian Poet
The silence, often, of pure innocence, persuades when speaking fails.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Saying nothing… sometimes says the most.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence.
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine Writer, Essayist, Poet
Silence is a true friend who never betrays.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.
—John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish Roman Catholic Mystic
In … silence we find a new energy and a real unity. God’s energy becomes our, allowing us to perform things well.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
Silence is a trick when it imposes. Pedants and scholars, churchmen and physicians, abound in silent pride.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
When money speaks, the truth keeps silent.
—Russian Proverb
Silence is the virtue of fools.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
If you keep your mouth shut you will never put your foot in it.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
Silence is the door of consent.
—African Proverb
Learn to hold thy tongue; five words cost Zacharias forty weeks of silence.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–45) German Lutheran Pastor, Theologian
Silence sweeter is than speech.
—Dinah Craik (1826–87) British Novelist, Essayist, Poet
The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart, the secret anniversaries of the heart, when the full tide of feeling overflows.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Silence is a great peacemaker.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Great things can best be said in silence.
—Polish Proverb
Silence is medication for sorrow.
—Arabic Proverb
The Pause; that impressive silence, that eloquent silence, that geometrically progressive silence which often achieves a desired effect where no combination of words, however so felicitous, could accomplish it.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Silence is the true friend that never betrays.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Truth is violated by falsehood, but outraged by silence.
—Anonymous
There’s nothing wrong with having nothing to say—unless you insist on saying it.
—Unknown
Silence is the sanctuary of prudence.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Silence is also speech.
—Common Proverb
Sticks and stones are hard on bones.
Aimed with angry art,
Words can sting like anything
But silence breaks the heart.
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–78) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Writer of Children’s Books
Those that are silent profess consent.
—Unknown
Silence is the understanding of fools, and one of the virtues of the wise.
—Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux (1636–1711) French Poet, Satirist, Literary Critic
I have been breaking silence these twenty-three years and have hardly made a rent in it.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Nothing is more useful than silence.
—Menander (c.343–c.291 BCE) Greek Comic Dramatist, Poet