The 25 Best Quotes About the Wisdom of Silence

My colleagues know me for something a bit odd.

Whenever I’m facilitating a training or meeting, I’m the guy who asks the group a question and then waits and waits and waits until someone responds. I don’t bail people out. I make them sit with the silence until someone cracks.

I’ve learned to do this after leading hundreds of trainings and thousands of meetings over my career, and I do it for a few reasons:

1. I know someone will speak up if I wait long enough. (I’m not afraid to sit in awkwardness.)
2. Silence gives people time to think.
3. Often, it takes people a while to get the courage to speak up—even if they have something thought-provoking to say.
4. Because many of the trainings and meetings I lead are virtual, I’ve learned that it takes people longer than you’d think to unmute their mic and get ready to talk.

I’ve been surprised by the power of silence, and it’s a skill I think everyone should learn. (I also wish I had learned this skill much earlier in my career, especially for one-on-one coaching conversations.)

Because I’m a huge nerd, I dug up the best quotes I could find about silence and why it’s an important communication tool. You’ll find the top 25 gems below.

“Silence is the only way to hear quiet wisdom.” -Derek Sivers

“A fool is known by his speech, and a wise man by silence.” -Pythagoras

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” –Abraham Lincoln

“Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing.” -Robert Benchley

“Silence is like the white light of sound.” -Joy Harjo

“I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid.” -Cato the Younger

“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

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving in words evidence of the fact.” -George Eliot

“He who knows how to speak, knows also when.” -Archimedes

“It is better either to be silent or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at Hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.” -Pythagoras

“Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.” -Publilius Syrus

“Let silence be your goal for the most part; say only what is necessary, and be brief about it. On the rare occasions when you’re called upon to speak, then speak, but never about banalities…” -Epictetus

“Most men talk too much. Much of my success has been due to keeping my mouth shut.” -J. Ogden Armour

“Silence is so freaking loud.” -Sarah Dessen

“My advice to anyone who wants to connect with others is to get comfortable with silence and learn to let it become an exclamation point for things you say.” -John Maxwell

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” -Will Rogers

“Speak only if it improves upon the silence.” -Mahatma Gandhi

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” -Benjamin Franklin

“Silence is a great canvas for your thoughts. That vacuum helps turn all of your inputs into output. That lack of interruption helps you flow.” -Derek Sivers

“Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation.” -Rumi

“Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.” -Charles de Gaulle

“The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.” -Robert Greene

“The silent man is the best to listen to.” -Japanese proverb

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

“Silence is not a bad thing. Silence is the noise thinking makes.” -Bobby Powers

Yeah, you caught me. Like an arrogant fiend, I threw in one of my own quotes at the end. But I happen to really like that one. 😉

I hope one of these quotes inspired you to harness the power of silence in your own life somehow this week.