--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Silences have a climax, when you have got…" description: "\"Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.\" — Elizabeth Bowen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png" --- # Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak. ![“Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.” quote by Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png) > “Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.” [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Notes that silence can build tension, prompting the need to speak. **In simple terms:** Silence creates tension. Key Takeaway Speak before silence erupts. Themes communication silence conflict Mood thoughtful cautious Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - relationships - negotiations - public speaking Key Concepts psychology of dialogue interpersonal dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When is silence beneficial? - How do you break tense silence? A Different Perspective Silence can be purposeful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) ## Related quotes > [I believe I've got to speak up for my people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-reid/i-believe-i-ve-got-to-speak-up-for-my-people/) [Eric Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-reid/) > [Speak out. You've got to speak out against the madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-stills/speak-out-you-ve-got-to-speak-out-against-the-madness/) [Stephen Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-stills/) > [And there are times that you got to speak up, and you’ve got to call things what they are!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-richardson/and-there-are-times-that-you-got-to-speak-up-and-you-ve-got-to-call/) H. L. Richardson > [Needless to say, you've got to have someone who can speak for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ry-cooder/needless-to-say-you-ve-got-to-have-someone-who-can-speak-for-you/) [Ry Cooder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ry-cooder/) > [Silences can be as different as sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/silences-can-be-as-different-as-sounds/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-shall-state-silences-more-competently-than-ever-a-better-man/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“My silences he mistook for a lack of wit rather than a lack of any need to speak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/my-silences-he-mistook-for-a-lack-of-wit-rather-than-a-lack-of-any/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [In these silences something may rise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-these-silences-something-may-rise/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I want to let all men and women know: Try going to a party or a dinner where you're completely fine with silences, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhea-seehorn/i-want-to-let-all-men-and-women-know-try-going-to-a-party-or-a-dinner/) [Rhea Seehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhea-seehorn/) > [There are some long silences in Scandinavian and some Japanese films, when the audience knows action is taking place, but the audience hears no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/there-are-some-long-silences-in-scandinavian-and-some-japanese-films/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Silences are the most underrated part of comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-steinberg/silences-are-the-most-underrated-part-of-comedy/) [David Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-steinberg/) > [I love your silences, they are like mine. You are the only being before whom I am not distressed by my own silences. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-love-your-silences-they-are-like-mine-you-are-the-only-being-before/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Love is the voice under all silences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-3/love-is-the-voice-under-all-silences/) [E E Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-3/) > [“Because death is the end, and if a man doesn’t speak before it silences him, then the things he holds closest die with him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-iles/because-death-is-the-end-and-if-a-man-doesn-t-speak-before-it/) [Greg Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-iles/) > [A deep, black grief gripped Robert Kennedy in the months following his brother's assassination. He lost weight, fell into melancholy silences, wore his brother's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-clarke/a-deep-black-grief-gripped-robert-kennedy-in-the-months-following-his/) Thurston Clarke ## More by Elizabeth Bowen > [Temperamentally, the writer exists on happenings, on contacts, conflicts, action and reaction, speed, pressure, tension. Were he acontemplative purely, he would not write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/temperamentally-the-writer-exists-on-happenings-on-contacts-conflicts/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Are you really an orphan? Yes, I am, said Portia a shade shortly. Are you? 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Outside lies the junk-yard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/every-love-has-a-poetic-relevance-of-its-own-each-love-brings-to/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [without fiction, either life would be insufficient or the winds from the north would blow too cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/without-fiction-either-life-would-be-insufficient-or-the-winds-from/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [One's sentiments -- call them that -- one's fidelities are so instinctive that one hardly knows they exist: only when they are betrayed or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/one-s-sentiments-call-them-that-one-s-fidelities-are-so-instinctive/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [Only in a house where one has learnt to be lonely does one have this solicitude for things. One's relation to them, the daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/only-in-a-house-where-one-has-learnt-to-be-lonely-does-one-have-this/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [To walk into history is to be free at once, to be at large among people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/to-walk-into-history-is-to-be-free-at-once-to-be-at-large-among-people/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [The wish to lead out one's lover must be a tribal feeling; the wish to be seen as loved is part of one's self-respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/the-wish-to-lead-out-one-s-lover-must-be-a-tribal-feeling-the-wish-to/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [Convention was our safeguard: could one have stronger?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/convention-was-our-safeguard-could-one-have-stronger/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“First love, with its frantic haughty imagination, swings its object clear of the everyday, over the rut of living, making him all looks, silences,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/first-love-with-its-frantic-haughty-imagination-swings-its-object/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [to leap is not only to leap, it is to hit the ground somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/to-leap-is-not-only-to-leap-it-is-to-hit-the-ground-somewhere/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [That is partly why women marry - to keep up the fiction of being in the hub of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/that-is-partly-why-women-marry-to-keep-up-the-fiction-of-being-in-the/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“But Miss Pym gave an impression, somehow, of having been attacked from within .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/but-miss-pym-gave-an-impression-somehow-of-having-been-attacked-from/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [rudeness to Mrs. Dosely was like dropping a pat of butter on to a hot plate - it slid and melted away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/rudeness-to-mrs-dosely-was-like-dropping-a-pat-of-butter-on-to-a-hot/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) [Explore all 275 Elizabeth Bowen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) ## More Climax quotes > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hatethe corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-love-the-pure-peaceable-and-impartial-christianity-of-christ-i/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > ['Prom' is a movie that follows a bunch of high-schoolers' lives leading up to the prom, the climax of the movie. It focuses all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-monaghan/prom-is-a-movie-that-follows-a-bunch-of-high-schoolers-lives-leading/) [Cameron Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-monaghan/) > [Going nowhere fast. We've reached the climax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usher/going-nowhere-fast-we-ve-reached-the-climax/) [Usher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usher/) > [“And in that full day, while Jed slept and woke and worked and loved, the forces in the world around him rushed headlong toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bunker/and-in-that-full-day-while-jed-slept-and-woke-and-worked-and-loved/) [Michael Bunker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bunker/) > [I don't view any of the hits I've ever written as the climax of my career. They're just minor stepping stones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-bellion/i-don-t-view-any-of-the-hits-i-ve-ever-written-as-the-climax-of-my/) [Jon Bellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-bellion/) > [Think 'Game of Thrones.' In the old days, this sort of show might be considered bad writing. It doesn't really seem to be moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/think-game-of-thrones-in-the-old-days-this-sort-of-show-might-be/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [The climax of absurdity to which art may be carried when led away from nature by fashion, may be best seen in the works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-constable/the-climax-of-absurdity-to-which-art-may-be-carried-when-led-away/) [John Constable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-constable/) > [Even the classics that we read to our young children are full of wolves' fangs and burning ovens and bloody feet and ice shards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/even-the-classics-that-we-read-to-our-young-children-are-full-of/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [More than working toward the book's climax, I work toward the denouement. As a reader and a writer, that's where I find the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-van-eekhout/more-than-working-toward-the-book-s-climax-i-work-toward-the/) [Greg van Eekhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-van-eekhout/) > [Oh, is this the climax? Well, I hope you don't mind if I fake it! -Buffy Gilmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scary-movie/oh-is-this-the-climax-well-i-hope-you-don-t-mind-if-i-fake-it-buffy/) Scary Movie > [“I’m pretty sure I had a romance novel climax.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-c-jamison/i-m-pretty-sure-i-had-a-romance-novel-climax/) [Jade C. Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-c-jamison/) > [“A plot-structure is a series of integrated, logically connected events, moved by a central purpose, leading to the resolution of a climax.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-branden/a-plot-structure-is-a-series-of-integrated-logically-connected-events/) [Barbara Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-branden/) > [The dog is dressed just like me at the climax of my act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gypsy-rose-lee/the-dog-is-dressed-just-like-me-at-the-climax-of-my-act/) [Gypsy Rose Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gypsy-rose-lee/) > [The climax of terror is reached when the police state begins to devour its own children, when yesterday's executioner becomes today's victim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-climax-of-terror-is-reached-when-the-police-state-begins-to/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) Browse all 170 Climax quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Bowen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got-to-speak/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Climax" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got-to-speak/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c38/elizabeth-bowen-1197_climax_silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got_587682.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Silences have a climax, when you have got to speak.” — Elizabeth Bowen", "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": "Elizabeth Bowen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Silences have a climax, when you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got-to-speak/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/silences-have-a-climax-when-you-have-got-to-speak/#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 } } ] } ```