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4514356 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. silence quiet Norton Juster
2b7f457 Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. - Amir silence tranquility quiet Khaled Hosseini
7d3dce8 When you are crazy you learn to keep quiet. quiet Philip K. Dick
fd61cf0 I was quiet, but I was not blind. mansfield-park shy quiet Jane Austen
fea63ec You are at once both the quiet and the confusion of my heart; imagine my heartbeat when you are in this state. heart love quiet Franz Kafka
a09133b We love the night and its quiet; and there is no night that we love so well as that on which the moon is coffined in clouds. quiet night Fitz-James O'Brien
f3468dd "But how?" my students ask. "How do you actually do it?" You sit down, I say. You try to sit down at approximately the same time every day. This is how you train your unconscious to kick in for you creatively. So you sit down at, say, nine every morning, or ten every night. You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on the computer and bring up the right file, and then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again. Then, with your fingers poised on the keyboard, you squint at an image that is forming in your mind -- a scene, a locale, a character, whatever -- and you try to quiet your mind so you can hear what that landscape or character has to say above the other voices in your mind." writer writing file how-to-write imagine focus quiet Anne Lamott
f1e2d61 A Manifesto for Introverts 1. There's a word for 'people who are in their heads too much': thinkers. 2. Solitude is a catalyst for innovation. 3. The next generation of quiet kids can and must be raised to know their own strengths. 4. Sometimes it helps to be a pretend extrovert. There will always be time to be quiet later. 5. But in the long run, staying true to your temperament is key to finding work you love and work that matters. 6. One genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards. 7. It's OK to cross the street to avoid making small talk. 8. 'Quiet leadership' is not an oxymoron. 9. Love is essential; gregariousness is optional. 10. 'In a gentle way, you can shake the world.' -Mahatma Gandhi personality quietness personality-types introversion introverts introverts-susan-cain-quote quiet Susan Cain
e17564f "There's an old adage," he said, "translated from the ancient Coptic, that contains all the wisdom of the ages -- "Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die." nature fun life stillness quiet Beryl Markham
67212bd Nowadays silence is looked on as odd and most of my race has forgotten the beauty of meaning much by saying little. Now tongues work all day by themselves with no help from the mind. silence quiet stereotype loud Toni Morrison
ca18017 Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you're supposed to. Stay home on New Year's Eve if that's what makes you happy. Skip the committee meeting. Cross the street to avoid making aimless chitchat with random acquaintances. Read. Cook. Run. Write a story. quiet Susan Cain
28d210c When I am constantly running there is no time for being. When there is no time for being there is no time for listening. self-care listen being quiet peace Madeleine L'Engle
60480b0 Fools believe silence is a void needing to be filled; the wise understand there's no such thing as silence. wisdom suri quiet Michael J. Sullivan
95cf2a3 The devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds. He will not allow quietness. solitude quiet Elisabeth Elliot
b19b6b1 Silence fell between them, as tangible as the dark tree shadows that fell across their laps and that now seemed to rest upon them as heavily as though they possessed a measurable weight of their own. silence quiet Madeleine L'Engle
be7630b The house was very quiet, and the fog--we are in November now--pressed against the windows like an excluded ghost. e-m-forster howards-end autumnal november fall autumn description quiet E.M. Forster
3667543 I went up on the hill and walked about until twilight had deepened into an autumn night with a benediction of starry quietude over it. I was alone but not lonely. I was a queen in halls of fancy. solitude pretty-prose romanticism quietness introversion quiet L.M. Montgomery
0ca5833 It would be erroneous to say Sohrab was quiet. Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. Sohrab's silence wasn't the self imposed silence of those with convictions, of protesters who seek to speak their cause by not speaking at all. It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place, curled up all the edges and tucked them under. silence mutism quiet Khaled Hosseini
dfde69c Introverts are offered keys to private gardens full of riches. To possess sucha key is to tumble like Alice down her rabbit hole. She didn't choose to go to Wonderland - but she made of it an adventure that was fresh and fantastic and very much her own. introverts susan-cain quiet Susan Cain
f24d558 Remember to say what you mean, but don't say it meanly. lovely words spirit faith god gentle day mean quiet nice Elizabeth George
0e50e5c It was as easy as breathing to go and have tea near the place where Jane Austen had so wittily scribbled and so painfully died. One of the things that causes some critics to marvel at Miss Austen is the laconic way in which, as a daughter of the epoch that saw the Napoleonic Wars, she contrives like a Greek dramatist to keep it off the stage while she concentrates on the human factor. I think this comes close to affectation on the part of some of her admirers. Captain Frederick Wentworth in , for example, is partly of interest to the female sex because of the 'prize' loot he has extracted from his encounters with Bonaparte's navy. Still, as one born after Hiroshima I can testify that a small Hampshire township, however large the number of names of the fallen on its village-green war memorial, is more than a world away from any unpleasantness on the European mainland or the high or narrow seas that lie between. (I used to love the detail that Hampshire's 'New Forest' is so called because it was only planted for the hunt in the late eleventh century.) I remember watching with my father and brother through the fence of Stanstead House, the Sussex mansion of the Earl of Bessborough, one evening in the early 1960s, and seeing an immense golden meadow carpeted entirely by grazing rabbits. I'll never keep that quiet, or be that still, again. This was around the time of countrywide protest against the introduction of a horrible laboratory-confected disease, named 'myxomatosis,' into the warrens of old England to keep down the number of nibbling rodents. Richard Adams's lapine masterpiece is the remarkable work that it is, not merely because it evokes the world of hedgerows and chalk-downs and streams and spinneys better than anything since , but because it is only really possible to imagine gassing and massacre and organized cruelty on this ancient and green and gently rounded landscape if it is organized and carried out against herbivores. jane-austen literature silence women 1960s earl-of-bessborough gassing hampshire hiroshima mansions myxomatosis napoleonic-wars new-forest persuasion-novel richard-adams sussex theatre-of-ancient-greece townships war-memorials watership-down wind-in-the-willows napoleon countryside meadow massacre rabbits cruelty world-war-ii quiet england europe literary-criticism Christopher Hitchens
0c0d9eb The only thing nicer than a phone that didn't ring all the time (or indeed at all) was six phones that didn't ring all the time (or indeed at all). intrusion quiet phone Douglas Adams
e4de27a "I need a break after school," she told me later. "School is hard because a lot of people are in the room, so you get tired. I freak out if my mom plans a play date without telling me, because I don't want to hurt my friends' feelings. But I'd rather stay home. At a friend's house you have to do the things other people want to do. I like hanging out with my mom after school because I can learn from her. She's been alive longer than me. We have thoughtful conversations. I like having conversations because they make people happy." happy thoughts feelings learning play mom introverts quiet introvert home thoughtful school Susan Cain
08dcea5 "You're very perceptive for a guy who can go a whole day without talking," she said, peering up at him. "That's why I'm perceptive." laconic talkers perceptive quiet Nicholas Sparks
2da4531 Any human companionship, even the dearest and most perfect, would have been alien to her then. She was sufficient unto herself, needing not love nor comradeship nor any human emotion to round out her felicity. Such moments come rarely in any life, but when they do come they are inexpressibly wonderful - as if the finite were for a second infinity - as if humanity were for a space uplifted into divinity - as if all ugliness had vanished, leaving only flawless beauty. solitude introversion quiet L.M. Montgomery
938e401 "No. Have it here where it is quiet." "You and your quiet", said Brett. "What is it men feel about quiet?" "We like it," said the count. Like you like your noise, my dear." quiet noise Ernest Hemingway
ad0fc0f This forest silence improves anyone. silence reflection quiet Robert M. Pirsig
b81ad50 Summer quiet thoughts on summer quiet noons. thoughts quiet summer Ray Bradbury
d0c42e9 But I do like churches. The way it feels inside. It feels good when you just sit there, like you're in a forest and everything's really quiet, except there's still this sound you can't hear. silence forest quiet peace Tim O'Brien
a30dafc "[John] watched the flames for a while. "I would have to say that I find God in serving His children. 'When I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was a stanger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, sick and you cared for me, imprisoned and you came to me.'" The words lingered in the air as the fire popped and hissed softly. Sondoz had stopped pacing and stood motionless in a far corner of the room, his face in shadows, firelight glittering on the metallic exoskeleton of his hands. "Don't hope for more than that, John," he said. "God will break your heart." god love quiet fire Mary Doria Russell
1e6a305 Libby wasn't a big talker - Michelle and Debby seemed to hog all her words. She made pronouncements: I like ponies. I hate spaghetti. I hate you. Like her mother, she had no poker face. No poker mood. It was all right there. When she wasn't angry or sad, she just didn't say much. speaking shy talking quiet shyness Gillian Flynn
24e9260 I dressed to their murmurs in the other room, their voices soft but strained, and I wondered if men ever talked like this, if their sorrows ever spilled into these secret cadences. pain sorrow women quiet men-and-women Esmeralda Santiago
7dd10a1 If she'd just kept her mouth shut, she would have been perfect, but no... woman silence shut-up perfect quiet Jennifer Crusie
2db5e3d Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools. speak-up quiet fools Alan Paton
b755784 "Der kom en vederkvaegende ro, en dyb fred og fryd over mig, det var som nar en feber ophorer. "Her," taenkte jeg, "kan jeg blive." quiet peace Karen Blixen Isak Dinesen
829c2e8 "He can be..." Heat started to flow across my cheeks. "He can be very...protective." Jayden's eyes widened as his mouth opened slightly. The flush in my cheeks deepened as I pressed my lips together. "Huh. That's the first time I've heard you talk." He pushed off the locker, falling in step beside me. Shorter than his brother and Rider, he was still a couple of inches taller than me, so my neck appreciated not having to look up to see him. "Cool. I'm quiet, too." I arched a brow. He laughed. "Okay. I'm not quiet. I'm sure if you Wikipedia'd my ass, I would show up as the opposite of quiet. But that's okay. You and I would get along like lime and tequila. You can make up for my nonstop talkin' and I can make up for your lack of talkin'." He nudged my arm with his. "We're a perfect team!" mallory-dodge rider-stark team opposites talk quiet Jennifer L. Armentrout
207fbc5 It looked so quiet and peaceful around. But the stillness was the sleep of swords. quiet Zora Neale Hurston
3ab2a71 Still, Luce held firm to the belief that quiet and solitude were good for you, offering peace, or at least hope for peace. solitude woods quiet Charles Frazier
da1b5b6 "She shakily rushed towards the car to find Alecto casually standing beside it, smoking a cigarette and staring fixedly on the radio as it played the song 'Draggin' the Line' by Tommy James, his expression thoughtful. "What are you thinking about?" Mandy questioned. "Wouldn't the world be a very loud place to live if we said everything we thought?" Alecto asked quietly." live mind world music song dragging tommy-james noisy cigarette line place quiet radio thinking question loud noise thought smoking Rebecca McNutt
f1c42c3 Men believe that they are accomplishing something by speaking speak in a different way from men who believe that speaking is a waste of time. Bobby Shaftoe learned most of his practical knowledge - how to fix a car, butcher a deer, throw a spiral, talk to a lady, kill a Nip - from the latter type of man. For them, trying to do anything by talking is like trying to pound in a nail with a screwdriver. Sometimes you can see the desperation spread over such a man's face as he listens to himself speak. speaking contemplation quiet Neal Stephenson
1bc80a7 Yet today we make room for a remarkably narrow range of personality styles. We're told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. personality quiet introvert Susan Cain
02ce5d4 Many shy people turn inward, partly as a refuge from the socializing that causes them such anxiety. And many introverts are shy, partly as a result of receiving the message that there's something wrong with their preference for reflection, and partly because their physiologies, as we'll see, compel them to withdraw from high-stimulation environments. quiet introvert Susan Cain
38e3123 Men who believe that they are accomplishing something by speaking speak in a different way from men who believe that speaking is a waste of time. Bobby Shaftoe learned most of his practical knowledge - how to fix a car, butcher a deer, throw a spiral, talk to a lady, kill a Nip - from the latter type of man. For them, trying to do anything by talking is like trying to pound in a nail with a screwdriver. Sometimes you can see the desperation spread over such a man's face as he listens to himself speak. speaking quiet Neal Stephenson
a1021b0 For a while, we just ate like that, a sick old man, a healthy, younger man, both absorbing the quiet of the room. I would say it was an embarrassed silence, but I seemed to be the only one embarrassed. ill silence healthy old quiet young Mitch Albom
47b80d0 To a life of quiet desperation... and not leading it. wealth freedom life witty quiet desperation Rebecca McNutt
dd51f6f And slowly a discussion begins - as Morrie has wanted all along - about the effect of silence on human relations. Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise? relation silence human embarrass effect discuss quiet noise Mitch Albom
6ab0705 It's far too easy to tote around a pocketbook of virtues when people are around but the truth always claws its way out in silence. This business of quiet and aloneness is working me through and through. silence truth quiet virtues Donna VanLiere
fd8be9b The house was so quiet, as if everyone had been spirited out of sight. I had a feeling of moving through time itself. I saw myself as a small, scurrying animal rushing into my future. But I was not afraid. time future unafraid wolf-by-the-ears house quiet Ann Rinaldi
95922d4 Some of us are silent sufferers of a noisy disease. suffering quiet Amy Hempel