logo

Quotes About Silence

The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. It was very quiet there. At
~ Joseph Conrad
Marlow ceased, and sat apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a meditating Buddha. Nobody moved for a time. We have lost the first of the ebb, said the Director, suddenly. I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky—seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.
~ Joseph Conrad
We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. It was very quiet there.
~ Joseph Conrad
Not the faintest sound of any kind could be heard. You looked on amazed, and began to suspect yourself of being deaf—then the night came suddenly, and struck you blind as well.
~ Joseph Conrad
Formerly, in solitude and in silence, he had been used to think clearly and sometimes even profoundly, seeing life outside the flattering optical delusion of everlasting hope, of conventional self-deceptions, of an ever-expected happiness.
~ Joseph Conrad
There were moments when one's past came back to one, as it will sometimes when you have not a moment to spare for yourself; but it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream, remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of this strange world of plants, and water, and silence. And this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a peace. It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect.
~ Joseph Conrad
chief of the Inner Station,' he answered in a short tone, looking away. 'Much obliged,' I said, laughing. 'And you are the brickmaker of the Central Station. Everyone knows that.' He was silent for a while.
~ Joseph Conrad
how can you imagine what particular region of the first ages a man's untrammelled feet may take him into by the way of solitude--utter solitude without a policeman--by the way of silence--utter silence, where no warning voice of a kind neighbour can be heard whispering of public opinion? These little things make all the great difference. When they are gone you must fall back upon your own innate strength, upon your own capacity for faithfulness
~ Joseph Conrad
would get angry through the greatness of his thirst, and take a terrible vengeance. So he sweated and fired up and watched the glass fearfully (with an impromptu charm, made of rags, tied to his arm, and a piece of polished bone, as big as a watch, stuck flatways through his lower lip), while the wooded banks slipped past us slowly, the short noise was left behind, the interminable miles of silence—and we crept on, towards Kurtz.
~ Joseph Conrad
apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a meditating Buddha. Nobody moved for a time. We have lost the first of the ebb, said the Director, suddenly. I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky—seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.
~ Joseph Conrad
it occurred to me that my speech or my silence, indeed any action of mine, would be a mere futility.
~ Joseph Conrad
We stopped, and the silence driven away by the stamping of our feet flowed back again from the recesses of the
~ Joseph Conrad
It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention.
~ Joseph Conrad
At present he was answering questions that did not matter though they had a purpose, but he doubted whether he would ever again speak out as long as he lived.
~ Joseph Conrad
The most precise of her sayings seemed always to me to have enigmatical prolongations vanishing somewhere beyond my reach. I am reduced to suppose that she appreciated my attention and my silence. The attention she could see was quite sincere, so that the silence could not be suspected of coldness. It seemed to satisfy her. And it is to be noted that if she confided in me it was clearly not with the expectation of receiving advice, for which, indeed, she never asked.
~ Joseph Conrad
And to a place I come where nothing shines.
~ Joseph Conrad
There are no words for the sort of things I wanted to say. If I had opened my lips just then I would have simply howled like an animal. I was asking myself when I would wake up.
~ Joseph Conrad
La noche, sin importar cuán muda sea, nunca es totalmente silenciosa a los oídos atentos
~ Joseph Conrad
Sanki baz? sessiz gecelerde uzaklarda çalan davullar?n çarp?nt?s?, yükselen ve alçalan, hem engin hem de belli belirsiz titreÅŸim duyulabiliyordu; garip, insana hitap eden, davetkar ve vahÅŸi bir sesti bu, ama sanki Hristiyan bir ülkedeki çan sesleri kadar derine iÅŸleyen bir anlama sahipti.
~ Joseph Conrad
An interviewer once asked Mother Teresa what she says to God when she prays. "I don't say anything," she replied. "I just listen." Then the interviewer asked her what God says to her. "He doesn't say anything," said Mother Teresa. "He just listens. And if you don't understand that, I can't explain it to you.
~ Joseph Goldstein
When the mind is silent, relaxed and attentive, pain is experienced not as a solid mass but as a flow, arising and vanishing moment to moment.
~ Joseph Goldstein
An interviewer once asked Mother Teresa what she says to God when she prays. "I don't say anything," she replied. "I just listen." Then the interviewer asked her what God says to her. "He doesn't say anything," said Mother Teresa. "He just listens. And if you don't understand that, I can't explain it to you."1
~ Joseph Goldstein
When sila is strong, we are saying with our actions that no one need fear us. This is one of the greatest contributions we can give to the world, for our nonharming offers the gift of safety and trust to all those around us. And last, morality brings us the peace of nonremorse.
~ Joseph Goldstein
Under Colonel Korn's rule, the only people permitted to ask questions were those who never did.
~ Joseph Heller