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.
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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!
Listen to silence. It has so much to say. Rumi
The quieter you become the more you are able to hear. Rumi
There was a brief silence. I think I heard snow falling. Erich Segal
All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. Blaise Pascal
Saying nothing sometimes says the most. Emily Dickinson

A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence. Pythagoras
It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Mahatma Gandhi
When you have nothing to say, say nothing. Charles Caleb Colton
The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind. Albert Einstein
Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. Francis Bacon

Noise creates illusions. Silence brings truth. Maxime Lagacé
If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet…maybe we could understand something. Federico Fellini
In the silence behind what can be heard lies the answers we have been searching for for so long. Andreas Fransson
Speech is silver, silence is golden. Thomas Carlyle
The good and the wise lead quiet lives. Euripides
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The Best Silence Quotes
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
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
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
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
Searching for a famous silence quote? Check out those by da Vinci, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc.
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 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
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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
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
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
Related: Why Silence Is So Good For Your Brain (huffingtonpost.ca)
Short Silence Quotes
One-liners, short silence quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.
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
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
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
Inspirational Quotes About Silence
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
- Topic: Happiness
- 81 Happiness Quotes That Will Light Up Your Day 😄
- 100 Meditation Quotes (For Less Stress And More Calmness)
- 100 Solitude Quotes That Will Soothe You
- 91 Mind Quotes To Make You Wiser
- 67 Inner Peace Quotes To Be Cool, Calm, And Collected
- 140 Calm Quotes To Help You Cool Down
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.
Table Of Contents
Part 1
Top 15 Images
Best Quotes
Part 2
Silence Quotes That ARE
Famous
Short
Inspirational
Wise
Part 3
Conclusion