For he who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know" (12) And "The Wise Man gives instruction Without the use of speech." (13)

I remember receiving hate mail saying, "Tell this talking Trappist who took a vow of silence to shut up!" Though silence is a traditional part of their lives, Trappists take no such vow. Maintaining silence (to increase contemplation) does not by itself rule out communication (which they do in sign language). I had an answer for the hate-mongers: "Writing is a form of contemplation.

Silence is not broken by speech, but by the anxiety to be heard.

We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to have time to listen.

I have learned now that while those who speak about one's miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.

If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it.

After a few months without writing, months I've lived turned outward... I fear going deaf, not being able to hear the silence.

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, refrains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.

You lose it if you talk about it.

Nothing is more like a wise man than a fool who holds his tongue.

Musical people always want one to be perfectly dumb at the very moment when one is longing to be perfectly deaf.