--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...it was necessary to love silence, but…" description: "\"...it was necessary to love silence, but before you could love silence you had to have noise.\" — Colum McCann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/colum-mccann-902_love_it-was-necessary-to-love-silence-but-bef_1007358.png" --- # ...it was necessary to love silence, but before you could… ![“...it was necessary to love silence, but before you could love silence you had to have noise.” quote by Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/colum-mccann-902_love_it-was-necessary-to-love-silence-but-bef_1007358.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/colum-mccann-902_love_it-was-necessary-to-love-silence-but-bef_1007358.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/colum-mccann-902_love_it-was-necessary-to-love-silence-but-bef_1007358.png) > “...it was necessary to love silence, but before you could love silence you had to have noise.” [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Appreciating silence requires prior experience with noise; contrast gives meaning to both. **In simple terms:** Noise helps you love silence. Key Takeaway Recognize the role of contrast in appreciation. Themes contrast appreciation silence Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - creative work - urban living - personal growth Key Concepts philosophy psychology sensory perception Questions to Reflect On - What noises have shaped your appreciation of quiet? - Can you find value in both extremes? A Different Perspective Silence may be uncomfortable without prior noise exposure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silence love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-love/) ## Related quotes > [I love silence. And one of the paradoxes about the way I live and also about my work is that definitely one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-love-silence-and-one-of-the-paradoxes-about-the-way-i-live-and-also/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I love silence. I seek and create it at every opportunity. I need it to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-love-silence-i-seek-and-create-it-at-every-opportunity-i-need-it-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Love, and do what you will. If you keep silence, do it out of love. If you cry out, do it out of love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/love-and-do-what-you-will-if-you-keep-silence-do-it-out-of-love-if/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [I'm a very interior person. I love silence. I revel in it. I'm happy that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/i-m-a-very-interior-person-i-love-silence-i-revel-in-it-i-m-happy/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [I love silence. But I usually only listen to that when I'm sleeping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zedd/i-love-silence-but-i-usually-only-listen-to-that-when-i-m-sleeping/) [Zedd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zedd/) > [I came to love silence, because it's so rare, and it's now my favorite aural condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/i-came-to-love-silence-because-it-s-so-rare-and-it-s-now-my-favorite/) [Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/) > [It is fully practical to create that which has form in the silence. The noise art makes is usually heard by those whose lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-patchen/it-is-fully-practical-to-create-that-which-has-form-in-the-silence/) [Kenneth Patchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-patchen/) > [“Silence is noise to the cluttered mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemlem-tsegaw/silence-is-noise-to-the-cluttered-mind/) Lemlem Tsegaw > [“The silence from someone you love is the loudest noise that could ever fill your head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-joshua-shaw/the-silence-from-someone-you-love-is-the-loudest-noise-that-could/) [Mr. Joshua Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-joshua-shaw/) > [When you're comfortable with someone you love, the silence is the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britney-spears/when-you-re-comfortable-with-someone-you-love-the-silence-is-the-best/) [Britney Spears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britney-spears/) > [He watched her retreat, his eyes lazy, and his body unmoving. A trickle of blood seeped slowly from the corner of his mouth. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/he-watched-her-retreat-his-eyes-lazy-and-his-body-unmoving-a-trickle/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [“When I say I love the silence, I'm not being entirely truthful. What I actually love are the abundant, delicate sounds that amplify when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/when-i-say-i-love-the-silence-i-m-not-being-entirely-truthful-what-i/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“My solemn exasperation was to her the silence of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/my-solemn-exasperation-was-to-her-the-silence-of-love/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“I am not bothered by the silence. For all the noise I make with my friends, I am still not comfortable talking about my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/i-am-not-bothered-by-the-silence-for-all-the-noise-i-make-with-my/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Silence is a still noise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/silence-is-a-still-noise/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) ## More by Colum McCann > [Give life long enough and it will solve all your problems, including the one of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/give-life-long-enough-and-it-will-solve-all-your-problems-including/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it's the last we'll ever have and we record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/there-is-something-that-happens-to-the-mind-in-moments-of-terror/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“The short sharp shock of three thousand mother two hundred mothers. The ones who picked through the supermarket debris for pieces of their dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-short-sharp-shock-of-three-thousand-mother-two-hundred-mothers/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Once we had filled each other with desire, not remembrance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/once-we-had-filled-each-other-with-desire-not-remembrance/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“How long ago it was and how strange, but all dead friends come to life again sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/how-long-ago-it-was-and-how-strange-but-all-dead-friends-come-to-life/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She would want, instead, to recall him in the air, between layers of cloud. 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