The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing.

You know, I have found out in the course of a long public life that the things I did not say never hurt me.

Silence did not always mean indifference.

At the age of fifteen, he had already learned silence.

She never understood why painters made ugly things. A, who wanted them in their house? This guy, obviously . . . who had no taste, or anyway was stuck in the nineties. And 2, it seemed like showing off. Like, hey, this is ugly! In your face. People were rude and called it art.

just to break the silence. He always imagined that silence was somehow directed against him. Or that it was his fault.

For God sake hold your tongue, and let me love.

For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love

The music of life is in danger of being lost in the music of the voice.

The lunatic fringe is more like a Spanish shawl, where the fringe makes up the entire garment.

I think that when people hear the president [George W. Bush] speak, frankly, they think he's really stupid. But what people don't realize is that there's a genius behind that stupidity, and that genius is Harlan McCraney.

It's a good feeling to not tell people what's going on.