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To foster and maintain a prayerful atmosphere of exterior silence we shall
~ respect certain times and places of more strict silence.
~ move about and work prayerfully, quietly and gently.
~ avoid at all cost all unnecessary speaking and notice.
~ speak, when we have to, softly, gently, saying just what is necessary.
~ look forward to profound silence […]

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Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is as deep as Eternity; speech is as shallow as Time.
~~Thomas Carlyle

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Silence and solitude do not refer only to the lessening of decibels. A person, notes Teresa [of Avila], cannot understand the indwelling mystery and fully realize Who is present within until he closes his eyes to the vanities of this world. Were she in our midst at the end of the twentieth century, the saint […]

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One of the really great needs of our own day is silence. Modern life seems to thrive on a fondness for noise, and by noise I mean not only the staccato barbarism of jazz, or the bleating and moaning of saxophone orchestras, but also, and principally, the excessive desire for that which distracts — love […]

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We need silence to be alone with God, to speak to him, to listen to him, to ponder his words deep in our hearts. We need to be alone with God in silence to be renewed and to be transformed. Silence gives us a new outlook on life. In it we are filled with the […]

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Silence is a gift of God, to let us speak more intimately with God.
~~ St. Vincent Pallotti

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The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silent before him. Habakkuk 2:2

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I understand and I know from experience that: 'The kingdom of God is within you.' Jesus has no need of books and teachers to instruct souls; He teaches without the noise of words. Never have I heard Him speak, but I feel that He is within me at each moment; He is guiding and inspiring […]

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Silent silver lights and darks undreamed of,
Where I hush and bless myself with silence.
~~Robert Browning

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Every time I do not behave like a donkey, it is the worse for me. How does a donkey behave? If it is slandered, it keeps silent; if it is forgottne, it keeps silent; it never complains, however much it is beaten or ill-used, because it has a donkey's patience. That is how the servant […]

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Speak little and do not meddle in matters about which you are not asked.
~~St. John of the Cross

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The truly silent, who keep apart,
He is like a tree grown in a meadow.
It greens, it doubles its yield,
It stands in front of its lord.
Its fruit is sweet, its shade delightful,
Its end comes in the garden.
Amenemope (c. 11th century BCE)

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We need silence to be alone with God, to speak to him, to listen to him, to ponder his words deep in our hearts. We need to be alone with God in silence to be renewed and to be transformed. Silence gives us a new outlook on life. In it we are filled with the […]

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Book One, 20: The Love of Solitude and Silence
Seek a suitable time for leisure, and meditate often on the favors of God. Leave curiousities alone. Read such matters as bring sorrow to the heart rather than occupation to the mind. If you withdrew yourself from unnecessary talking and idle running about, from listening to gossip […]

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