170 Silence Quotes To Make You Feel Grounded

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder and chief editor of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm, powerful, and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

NEW: Get The Peace of Mind Checklist. It's free.

Here are 170 of the best silence quotes I could find. And the goal is simple: to inspire you and make you feel calm and relaxed. You’ll discover quotes by Gandhi, Confucius, Einstein, Thoreau, and more. Enjoy!

silence quotes listen has much say rumi wisdom

Listen to silence. It has so much to say. Rumi

silence quotes quieter you become more are able hear rumi wisdom

The quieter you become the more you are able to hear. Rumi

silence quotes brief silence think heard snow falling erich segal wisdom road winter trees

There was a brief silence. I think I heard snow falling. Erich Segal

silence quotes all mens miseries derive from being able sit quiet room alone blaise pascal wisdom house cabin

All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. Blaise Pascal

silence quotes saying nothing sometimes says most emily dickinson wisdom

Saying nothing sometimes says the most. Emily Dickinson

Advertisement

silence quotes fool known his speech wise man pythagoras

A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence. Pythagoras

silence quotes better prayer have heart without words that without mahatma gandhi wisdom

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Mahatma Gandhi

silence quotes when you have nothing say nothing charles caleb colton wisdom

When you have nothing to say, say nothing. Charles Caleb Colton

silence quotes monotony solitude quiet life stimulates creative mind albert einstein wisdom

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind. Albert Einstein

silence quotes the sleep that nourishes wisdom francis bacon

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. Francis Bacon

Advertisement

silence quotes noise creates illusions brings truth maxime lagace wisdom man water sitting alone

Noise creates illusions. Silence brings truth. Maxime Lagacé

silence quotes there were little more kept quiet maybe could understand something federico fellini wisdom man sitting alone mountains

If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet…maybe we could understand something. Federico Fellini

silence quotes behind heard lies answers have been searching long andreas fransson wisdom road house

In the silence behind what can be heard lies the answers we have been searching for for so long. Andreas Fransson

silence quotes speech silver golden thomas carlyle wisdom

Speech is silver, silence is golden. Thomas Carlyle

silence quotes the good wise lead quiet lives euripides wisdom woman lake water solitude calm

The good and the wise lead quiet lives. Euripides

Related

Watch this video: 24 Life Quotes with Inspiring and Relaxing Music

The Best Silence Quotes

Go to table of contents
silence quotes source great strength lao tzu wisdom man looking

Silence is a source of great strength. Lao Tzu

Inner silence is the mother of all talents. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

I, schooled in misery, know many purifying rites, and I know where speech is proper and where silence. Aeschylus

The closer you are to the truth, the more silent you become inside. Naval Ravikant

In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood. Henry David Thoreau

I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me. Albert Einstein

If I could I would always work in silence and obscurity, and let my efforts be known by their results. Emily Bronte

Be silent, if you choose; but when it is necessary, speak – and speak in such a way that people will remember it. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. Chaim Potok

silence quotes time most luxurious things today tom ford wisdom walk beach waves

Time and silence are the most luxurious things today. Tom Ford

Silence is true wisdom’s best reply. Euripides

The more you understand silence, that’s where the balance comes. Rick Rubin

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am in, therein to be content. Helen Keller

Silence is so freaking loud. Sarah Dessen

Advertisement

There is something terribly wrong with a culture inebriated by noise and gregariousness. George Steiner

The things that we understand, create silence. The things that we do not, create emotion. Kapil Gupta

Silence is sometimes the best answer. Dalai Lama

Within us is the soul of the whole, the wise silence, the universal beauty, the eternal One. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right. Cato The Elder

silence quotes people will anything matter absurd order avoid facing their soul carl jung wisdom beach

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. Carl Jung

Don’t waste words on people deserve your silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all. Mandy Hale

The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept, in silence sealed; the thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, whose charms were broken if revealed. Charlotte Bronte

Silence speaks when words can’t. Unknown

In silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves. Rumi

Now all my teachers are dead except silence. W. S. Merwin

Talk, talk, talk: the utter and heartbreaking stupidity of words. William Faulkner

Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly. Epictetus

Part 2. Silence Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Silence Quotes

Go to table of contents

Searching for a famous silence quote? Check out those by da Vinci, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc.
silence quotes true friend never betrays confucius wisdom

Silence is a true friend who never betrays. Confucius

As far as I’m concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue. Albert Einstein

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King Jr

Silence is the wit of fools. Anatole France

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. Leonardo da Vinci

Without great solitude no serious work is possible. Pablo Picasso

Speak only if it improves upon the silence. Mahatma Gandhi

silence quotes more eloquent words thomas carlyle wisdom nature waterfall person

Silence is more eloquent than words. Thomas Carlyle

I often regret that I have spoken; never that I have been silent. Publilius Syrus

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. Mark Twain

The truth hurts, but silence kills. Mark Twain

Want more peace of mind?

Check our ultimate Peace of Mind Checklist.

It's free.

Get your copy today!

The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence. Benjamin Franklin

Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper. Martin Luther King Jr

Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer. Muhammad Ali

silence quotes great souls suffer friedrich schiller wisdom woman nature mountains

Great souls suffer in silence. Friedrich Schiller

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power. Charles de Gaulle

If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence. Mother Teresa

It is not easy to keep silent when silence is a lie. Victor Hugo

You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion. Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)

Experience teaches us that silence terrifies people the most. Bob Dylan

The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me. Blaise Pascal

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much. William Shakespeare

silence quotes talk doesnt cook rice chinese proverb wisdom man phone

Talk doesn’t cook rice. Chinese proverb

Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together. Thomas Carlyle

A sage thing is timely silence, and better than any speech. Plutarch

Be silent or let thy words be worth more than silence. Pythagoras

We need silence to be able to touch souls. Mother Teresa

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind. Napoleon Bonaparte

RelatedWhy Silence Is So Good For Your Brain (huffingtonpost.ca)

Short Silence Quotes

Go to table of contents

One-liners, short silence quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.
silence quotes healing heraclitus wisdom nature sitting rocks

Silence, healing. Heraclitus

Since long I’ve held silence a remedy for harm. Aeschylus

Silence is safer than speech. Epictetus

Silence is better than unmeaning words. Pythagoras

I was quiet, but I was not blind. Jane Austen

What’s quiet is more powerful than you think. Maxime Lagacé

Silence is more musical than any song. Christina Rossetti

You misinterpret everything, even the silence. Franz Kafka

Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man. Iain Duncan Smith

The silence is not suppression; instead, it is all there is. Annie Dillard

silence quotes quiet mind richer than crown robert greene wisdom rocks

The quiet mind is richer than a crown. Robert Greene

Speech is of time, silence is of eternity. Thomas Carlyle

Real action is in silent moments. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Noise: a stench in the ear. Ambrose Bierce

Silence says a lot more than you think. Unknown

Getting no message is also a message. Unknown

You are a slave to what you do say, a master of what you don’t say. Unknown

Silence isn’t empty. It’s full of ansers. Unknown

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. Alan Watts

Silence is the mother of truth. Benjamin Disraeli

To hear, one must be silent. Ursula K. Le Guin

Sound is our mind, silence is our being. Osho

silence quotes does undertand will probably words elbert hubbard wisdom water sea

He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words. Elbert Hubbard

You cannot be angry when alone. Osho

Listening to the eternal involves a silence within us. Thomas Raymond Kelly

One need not always be saying something in this noisy world. Sarah Orne Jewett

The wisest man is the silent one. Examine his actions. Judge him by them. Karen Marie Moning

Silence is therapeutic, nurture your soul in solitude. Yogi Ramdas (Source)

Silence is the virtue of fools. Francis Bacon

A silent man is easily reputed wise. Frederick William Robertson

Never be bullied into silence. Harvey Fierstein

Hope will never be silent. Harvey Milk

Silence is also a conversation. Ramana Maharshi

Advertisement

Inspirational Quotes About Silence

Go to table of contents
silence quotes hear other mens imperfections conceal own citium zeno wisdom landscape mountains

By silence, I hear other men’s imperfections and conceal my own. Zeno

I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night. Soren Kierkegaard

Silence is interesting. It can show confusion, indifference and sadness. But it can also show determination, confidence and caring. Maxime Lagacé

Some of the greatest battles will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul. Ezra Taft Benson

The hardest and most important battle you’ll deliver is when you’ll be alone. Will you follow the crowds or will you follow that little voice inside yourself? Maxime Lagacé

A fair request should be followed by the deed in silence. Dante Alighieri

Silence and meditation makes room for the inner voice to speak. Lex Fridman (Source)

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow. Alice Walker

The true genius shudders at incompleteness – and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be. Edgar Allan Poe

How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself. Virginia Woolf

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. Ansel Adams

silence quotes steady quiet plodding ones who win lifelong race robert service wisdom sitting nature

It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race. Robert W. Service

No writer in our time has been more isolated than Kafka, and yet few have achieved communication as well as he did. Eugenio Montale

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

I go silent so I can write. When my tongue is wagging my fingers are silent. Sonia Rumzi

Choose silence of all virtues, for by it you hear other men’s imperfections, and conceal your own. George Bernard Shaw

Withdraw into yourself, perceive there a silence as old as being, even older. Emil Cioran

Within each of us, there is silence. A silence as vast as the universe. And when we experience that silence, we remember who we are. Gunilla Norris

Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully. Norton Juster

I think that one’s art is a growth inside one. I do not think one can explain growth. It is silent and subtle. One does not keep digging up a plant to see how it grows. Emily Carr

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. Audre Lorde

I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

silence quotes eternal duty men thomas carlyle wisdom water

Silence is the eternal duty of man. Thomas Carlyle

Staying silent is like a slow growing cancer to the soul and a trait of a true coward. There is nothing intelligent about not standing up for yourself. You may not win every battle. However, everyone will at least know what you stood for – you. Shannon L. Alder

I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion; I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company. Henry Miller

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence. Henri Frederic Amiel

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. Aldous Huxley

We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves. Leonora Carrington

I drank the silence of God from a spring in the woods. Georg Trakl

You can hear the footsteps of God when silence reigns in the mind. Sathya Sai Baba

Silence is the language of God; it is also the language of the heart. Sivananda

Wise Silence Sayings

Go to table of contents
silence quotes empty space home awakened mind buddha wisdom silhouette woman

Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind. Buddha

When I speak, you must not listen to the words, my dear. Listen to the silence. Anthony de Mello

Speaking comes by nature, silence by understanding. German proverb

If you’re asked: What is the silence? Respond: It is the first stone of the Wisdom’s temple. Pythagoras

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. Abraham Lincoln

Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing. William S. Burroughs

Silence gives us space to process our experiences and soak in our surroundings. Cati Vanden Breul

The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak. Baruch Spinoza

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak. Michel de Montaigne

silence quotes your very shows you agree euripides wisdom man looking

Your very silence shows you agree. Euripides

Don’t waste words on people who deserve your silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all. Unknown

It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Nicholas Sparks

One must learn to be silent just as one must learn to talk. Virginia Woolf

Only when the voice of duty is silent, or when it has already spoken, may we allowably think of the consequences of a particular action. Augustus Hare

Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish. Charles Caleb Colton

Silence was not the absence of sound but was itself a sound that could be loud or soft, soothing or disturbing, complex or simple. Julius Lester

I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Music is pleasing not only because of the sound but because of the silence that is in it: without the alternation of sound and silence there would be no rhythm. Thomas Merton

silence quotes wiser become comfortable maxime lagace wisdom

The wiser you become, the more comfortable you are with silence. Maxime Lagacé

All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. Nisargadatta Maharaj

We’ve known about the transcendent power of solitude for centuries; it’s only recently that we’ve forgotten it. Susan Cain

Silence is a statement that is open to gross misinterpretation. Craig Bruce

It is more noble by silence to avoid an injury than by argument to overcome it. Francis Beaumont

Silences are the most underrated part of comedy. David Steinberg

The moment you become aware of the silence, you also have become silent. Eckhart Tolle

Conclusion

Go to table of contents

Do you want to change the world? Then change yourself first. Do you want to change yourself? Then remain completely silent inside the silence-sea. Sri Chinmoy

Let’s recap:

  • Silence is what your ego hates but what your soul loves.
  • Society is about lies. Silence is about truth.
  • You can’t hear yourself if you’re always busy. Stop. Listen.
  • The benefits of silence? (1, 2)
    • More self-knowledge
    • More creativity
    • More peace
  • A sign of wisdom? You listen more than you talk.

Further Readings

Hope you enjoyed these beautiful silence quotes. If you did, please share them with a friend today!

Do you consider yourself silent? What’s your favorite silence quote? What means “being silent” to you? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.

Author Bio

maxime lagace

Maxime Lagacé started collecting quotes in 2004 after he lost his girlfriend in a car accident.

In search of meaning, he dived in the self-improvement world, psychology and trail running.

Books, blogs, quotes and nature became his guide.

He started journaling, reflecting, writing his thoughts, feelings and quotes.

His goal was to understand his pain, his depression, his fears, his lack of motivation and inspiration.

He finished his software engineering degree in 2007 at the École de Technologie Supérieure de Montréal.

A few years later, he started his first website to share his love of quotes.

Maxime is a father of two, husband, and INFJ.

Other notable interests of Maxime are health (mental and physical), meditation, bananas, SEO, human potential, and education.

You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube.

Last update

June 17, 2022

Disclaimer: This article may include affiliate links to books and products we think are useful for our readers. If you choose buy through links on this page, we may earn a little commission at no extra cost to you. In the end, this will help WisdomQuotes become better. Thank you.