When I was a young man (I was, once, honest) I was driving back to Liverpool from the Lake District with a girlfriend (I think at 21 in those days we still called each other boy/girl friends) where we'd been for a short break. At one point we'd been silent for quite a while and we realised that we knew each other well because we were comfortable with the silence between us. We had no need to talk. I was reminded of that today by Heather's quote on Facebook by Elbert Hubbard that “He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” I used to have on my wall the words "We do not know each other yet. We have not dared to be silent together." However, unusually, I didn't attribute it to anyone. I have Googled it without success. Does anyone know if it's a quote or did it come from my head?
Saturday 2 October 2010
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too true. I remember thinking - as a very young musician - that music was just as much about silence - or the spaces between notes, as it was about the notes themselves.
ReplyDeletea comfortable silence is a valuable thing between friends.
now, I really do wish I could sleep!
That's a lovely thought. A comfortable understanding relationship has long parts in it where people just 'are being' instead of doing.
ReplyDeleteA cliche maybe, but it really is golden. I like silence a lot. Almost as much as I like loud, live music. An oxymoron, but true.
ReplyDeleteUmm, we're friends, right? No need to say anything!
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ReplyDeletePrevious post was an experiment. I was not allowed to leave a totally blank comment. But the three dots were accepted.
ReplyDeleteBut since silence can have different meanings and might be especially tricky to interpret in writing, perhaps I'd better add a few words...
The idea I think is common goods, whether the exact phrase is a quote or not I don't know. Well, if it wasn't found on Google before, it is now. Referring to this post of yours! ;)
I think, Pauline, we are very comfortable being silent together - or would be if either of us ever stopped talking! Seriously though - no, there's no need.
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