--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes, to be silent is to be most…" description: "\"Sometimes, to be silent is to be most eloquent.\" — Charlton Heston" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png" --- # Sometimes, to be silent is to be most eloquent. ![“Sometimes, to be silent is to be most eloquent.” quote by Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png) > “Sometimes, to be silent is to be most eloquent.” [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He suggests that silence can be a powerful form of eloquence. **In simple terms:** Silence can be eloquent. Key Takeaway Use silence strategically in communication. Themes communication silence eloquence Mood calm thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - public speaking - negotiations - meditation Key Concepts rhetoric mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - When is silence more effective than words? - How can you balance speech and silence? A Different Perspective Silence may be misread as disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eloquent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquent/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silent/) [Silent Eloquent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silent-eloquent-2190716/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [The scholar only knows how dear these silent, yet eloquent, companions of pure thoughts and innocent hours become in the season of adversity. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/the-scholar-only-knows-how-dear-these-silent-yet-eloquent-companions/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [A picture that is ghostly and silent can be more eloquent and less clichéd than a noisier photo-journalistic approach and I have attempted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-norfolk/a-picture-that-is-ghostly-and-silent-can-be-more-eloquent-and-less/) [Simon Norfolk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-norfolk/) > [Meditation is silence, energising and fulfilling. Silent is the eloquent expression of the inexpressible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/meditation-is-silence-energising-and-fulfilling-silent-is-the/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [Silence is more eloquent than words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/silence-is-more-eloquent-than-words/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“It was the most eloquent silence I ever heard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/it-was-the-most-eloquent-silence-i-ever-heard/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [J. Budziszewski is perhaps the clearest and most eloquent natural lawyer writing today. When reading his works I often find myself amazed by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-j-beckwith/j-budziszewski-is-perhaps-the-clearest-and-most-eloquent-natural/) [Francis J. Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-j-beckwith/) > [We too are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper silence and aloneness with God, together as a community as well as personally;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/we-too-are-called-to-withdraw-at-certain-intervals-into-deeper/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [It's very intense to be in front of a live audience. It's just an amazing experience. It's dangerous. Everything out there is heightened. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/it-s-very-intense-to-be-in-front-of-a-live-audience-it-s-just-an/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [When you are in hard labor, remember that the length of labor is usually proportional to the number of people around. Avoid the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-odent/when-you-are-in-hard-labor-remember-that-the-length-of-labor-is/) [Michel Odent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-odent/) > [Though the singer is silent…there is still the truth of the song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/though-the-singer-is-silent-there-is-still-the-truth-of-the-song/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-arthur-ward/we-must-be-silent-before-we-can-listen-we-must-listen-before-we-can/) [William Arthur Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-arthur-ward/) > [We have drugs to make women speak, but none to keep them silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/we-have-drugs-to-make-women-speak-but-none-to-keep-them-silent/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The silent majority is silent, and that is best for everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-kocher/the-silent-majority-is-silent-and-that-is-best-for-everybody/) [Gerhard Kocher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-kocher/) > [“SILENT LIKE SLEEP You appear by my side, silent like sleep. Soft hair, a little wild. No fear, gentle like a calm river. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-goddard/silent-like-sleep-you-appear-by-my-side-silent-like-sleep-soft-hair-a/) [Donna Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-goddard/) ## More by Charlton Heston > [Acting, taken to the highest level, requires a fierce, total focus of your time and energy at the cost of just about everything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/acting-taken-to-the-highest-level-requires-a-fierce-total-focus-of/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/what-acting-offered-me-was-the-chance-to-be-many-other-people/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Another plague upon the land, as devastating as the locusts God loosed on the Egyptians, is 'Political Correctness.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/another-plague-upon-the-land-as-devastating-as-the-locusts-god-loosed/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Undeniably the American art form, too. And yet more and more, we see films made that diminish the American experience and example. And sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/undeniably-the-american-art-form-too-and-yet-more-and-more-we-see/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [It's the camel's nose in the tent. Look at Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Idi Amin--every one of these monsters, on seizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/it-s-the-camel-s-nose-in-the-tent-look-at-stalin-mussolini-hitler-mao/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Life is full of surprises, isn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/life-is-full-of-surprises-isn-t-it/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [To the world, you are America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/to-the-world-you-are-america/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Celebrity is a corrosive condition for the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/celebrity-is-a-corrosive-condition-for-the-soul/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [You could say that the paparazzi and the tabloids are sort of the 'assault weapons' of the First Amendment. They're ugly, a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/you-could-say-that-the-paparazzi-and-the-tabloids-are-sort-of-the/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [You simply disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/you-simply-disobey-peaceably-yes-respectfully-of-course-nonviolently/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/for-an-actor-there-is-no-greater-loss-than-the-loss-of-his-audience/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Lenin in 1921 observed very presciently that motion pictures were the most powerful tool ever invented to shape the way we thought. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/lenin-in-1921-observed-very-presciently-that-motion-pictures-were-the/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Film is the only art form whose raw materials are so horrendously expensive that the artist cannot afford to buy them for himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/film-is-the-only-art-form-whose-raw-materials-are-so-horrendously/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [To the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to tell you something: You can have my gun. You can pry it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/to-the-divisive-forces-that-would-take-freedom-away-i-want-to-tell/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Society mends its wounds. And that's invariably true in all the tragedies, in the comedies as well. And certainly in the histories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/society-mends-its-wounds-and-that-s-invariably-true-in-all-the/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) [Explore all 101 Charlton Heston quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) ## More Eloquent quotes > [We believe a scientist because he can substantiate his remarks, not because he is eloquent and forcible in his enunciation. In fact, we distrust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-a-richards/we-believe-a-scientist-because-he-can-substantiate-his-remarks-not/) [I. A. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-a-richards/) > [J. Budziszewski is perhaps the clearest and most eloquent natural lawyer writing today. When reading his works I often find myself amazed by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-j-beckwith/j-budziszewski-is-perhaps-the-clearest-and-most-eloquent-natural/) [Francis J. Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-j-beckwith/) > [His eyes, I’d long since discovered, could be as eloquent and expressive as his pen. The messages they sent me now hardly seemed decent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/his-eyes-i-d-long-since-discovered-could-be-as-eloquent-and/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“It was the most eloquent silence I ever heard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/it-was-the-most-eloquent-silence-i-ever-heard/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [To women who please me only by their faces, I am the very devil when I find out they have neither souls nor hearts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/to-women-who-please-me-only-by-their-faces-i-am-the-very-devil-when-i/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The EU Constitution is something new in human history. Though it is not as eloquent as the French and U.S. constitutions, it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/the-eu-constitution-is-something-new-in-human-history-though-it-is/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [President Trump has never been accused of being an eloquent or charismatic speaker. In fact, his rough-edged style has roiled commentators and professional politicos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-pavlich/president-trump-has-never-been-accused-of-being-an-eloquent-or/) [Katie Pavlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-pavlich/) > [Silence is more eloquent than words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/silence-is-more-eloquent-than-words/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-life-of-a-good-man-is-at-the-same-time-the-most-eloquent-lesson/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/government-is-not-reason-it-is-not-eloquent-it-is-force-like-fire-it/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [I don't really listen to Radiohead. I listened to the albums and they just didn't move me in the way, say, John Prine does.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/i-don-t-really-listen-to-radiohead-i-listened-to-the-albums-and-they/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [Writing is eternal, For therein the dead heart liveth, the clay-cold tongue is eloquent, And the quick eye of the reader is cleared by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/writing-is-eternal-for-therein-the-dead-heart-liveth-the-clay-cold/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [No compliment can be eloquent, except as an expression of indifference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/no-compliment-can-be-eloquent-except-as-an-expression-of-indifference/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Steiner has here transformed the vaporous conceptions of his life, the vapors of what never was and never will be, from their aeriform state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-tosches/steiner-has-here-transformed-the-vaporous-conceptions-of-his-life-the/) [Nick Tosches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-tosches/) > [Proper worship in any age is critically predicated upon adequate and accurate knowledge of the God worshiped. No matter how ceremonially elaborate, emotionally rousing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreas-j-kostenberger/proper-worship-in-any-age-is-critically-predicated-upon-adequate-and/) [Andreas J. Kostenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreas-j-kostenberger/) [Browse all 282 Eloquent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sometimes, to be silent is to be most eloquent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charlton Heston" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-eloquent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eloquent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-eloquent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/charlton-heston-5386_eloquent_sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-elo_1010495.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sometimes, to be silent is to be most eloquent.” — Charlton Heston", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charlton Heston", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Sometimes, to be silent is to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-eloquent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/sometimes-to-be-silent-is-to-be-most-eloquent/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```