--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I understand, and not knowing how to…" description: "\"I understand, and not knowing how to express myself without pagan words, I’d rather remain silent\" — Arthur Rimbaud" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/arthur-rimbaud-2266_knowing_i-understand-and-not-knowing-how-to-expr_1759337.jpg" --- # I understand, and not knowing how to express myself… ![“I understand, and not knowing how to express myself without pagan words, I’d rather remain silent” quote by Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/arthur-rimbaud-2266_knowing_i-understand-and-not-knowing-how-to-expr_1759337.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/arthur-rimbaud-2266_knowing_i-understand-and-not-knowing-how-to-expr_1759337.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/arthur-rimbaud-2266_knowing_i-understand-and-not-knowing-how-to-expr_1759337.jpg) > “I understand, and not knowing how to express myself without pagan words, I’d rather remain silent” [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Silence can be a refuge when language fails to convey truth. **In simple terms:** When words fail, stay quiet. Key Takeaway Embrace silence when language feels inadequate. Themes expression silence authenticity Mood melancholic introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - public speaking - writing - emotional processing Key Concepts literature existentialism communication Questions to Reflect On - When is silence more harmful than helpful? - How can you express without words? A Different Perspective Silence may prevent needed dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pagan/) ## Related quotes > [“Oh! science! It has reconsidered everything. 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I loved deserts, burnt out orchards, faded boutiques...I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/delivered-to-oblivion-growing-and-flowering-with-incense-and-weeds-to/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“I On the calm black water where the stars are sleeping White Ophelia floats like a great lily; Floats very slowly, lying in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-on-the-calm-black-water-where-the-stars-are-sleeping-white-ophelia/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [I went out under the sky, Muse! and I was your vassal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-went-out-under-the-sky-muse-and-i-was-your-vassal/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [But the problem is to make the soul into a monster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/but-the-problem-is-to-make-the-soul-into-a-monster/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Love...no such thing. Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together, that's not love. That's stupidity or selfishness or fear. Love doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/love-no-such-thing-whatever-it-is-that-binds-families-and-married/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Weakness or strength: you exist, that is strength. You don't know where you are going or why you are going, go in everywhere, answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/weakness-or-strength-you-exist-that-is-strength-you-don-t-know-where/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Oh! If only we were naked now, and free to watch our protruding parts align; To whisper - both of us - in ecstasy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/oh-if-only-we-were-naked-now-and-free-to-watch-our-protruding-parts/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [But, truly, I have wept too much! The Dawns are heartbreaking. Every moon is atrocious and every sun bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/but-truly-i-have-wept-too-much-the-dawns-are-heartbreaking-every-moon/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [What an old maid I'm getting to be. lacking the courage to be in love with death!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/what-an-old-maid-i-m-getting-to-be-lacking-the-courage-to-be-in-love/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies. - Farewell ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/i-shall-ask-forgiveness-for-having-fed-on-lies-farewell/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [And I am still alive-what though, my damnation is eternal. A man who deliberately mutilates himself is truly damned, is he not? I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/and-i-am-still-alive-what-though-my-damnation-is-eternal-a-man-who/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [. . . be absolute moderne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/be-absolute-moderne/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) [Explore all 148 Arthur Rimbaud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) ## More Knowing quotes > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Therefore, brethren, pray until God gives us revelation so that "knowing this" in our spirit we may truly confess "that our old man has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/therefore-brethren-pray-until-god-gives-us-revelation-so-that-knowing/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. 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If women were cool with knowing their man is cheating on them then they have no right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-williams/they-have-no-right-to-complain-if-women-were-cool-with-knowing-their/) [Eric Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-williams/) > [Those who are the most happy appear to know it the least; happiness is something that for the most part seems to mainly consist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-brothers/those-who-are-the-most-happy-appear-to-know-it-the-least-happiness-is/) [Joyce Brothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-brothers/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Trying to find this industry's tendency to celebrate the physical is a waste of time. 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