--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Well, I aren't like a bird-clapper…" description: "\"Well, I aren't like a bird-clapper, forced to make a rattle when the wind blows on me. I can keep my own counsel when there's no good i' speaking.\" — G..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/george-eliot-84_bird_well-i-aren-t-like-a-bird-clapper-forced_271767.png" --- # Well, I aren't like a bird-clapper, forced to make a… ![“Well, I aren't like a bird-clapper, forced to make a rattle when the wind blows on me. I can keep my own counsel when there's no good i' speaking.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/george-eliot-84_bird_well-i-aren-t-like-a-bird-clapper-forced_271767.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/george-eliot-84_bird_well-i-aren-t-like-a-bird-clapper-forced_271767.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27f/george-eliot-84_bird_well-i-aren-t-like-a-bird-clapper-forced_271767.png) > “Well, I aren't like a bird-clapper, forced to make a rattle when the wind blows on me. I can keep my own counsel when there's no good i' speaking.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker rejects forced conformity, choosing to stay silent when there is no genuine reason to speak. **In simple terms:** Stay silent instead of forced noise. Key Takeaway Speak only when you have something meaningful. Themes authenticity silence individuality Mood thoughtful serene Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - political discourse - personal boundaries - creative work Key Concepts self‑expression social pressure Questions to Reflect On - When is silence a form of complicity? - What voice do you keep hidden? A Different Perspective Silence can be misinterpreted as agreement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) ## Related quotes > [He (Tiberius) was wont to mock at the arts of physicians, and at those who, after thirty years of age, needed counsel as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/he-tiberius-was-wont-to-mock-at-the-arts-of-physicians-and-at-those/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/every-purpose-is-established-by-counsel-and-with-good-advice-make-war/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [After mature deliberation of counsel, the good Queen to establish a rule and immutable example unto all posterity, for the moderation and required modesty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/after-mature-deliberation-of-counsel-the-good-queen-to-establish-a/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“When a soothing wind blows gently love through the thistledown of expectations, hope may inveigle the future for timeless care and tenderness to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/when-a-soothing-wind-blows-gently-love-through-the-thistledown-of/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [For a few precious moments... I am back in Old Texas, under a high sky... where all things are again possible... and the wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-l-king/for-a-few-precious-moments-i-am-back-in-old-texas-under-a-high-sky/) [Larry L. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-l-king/) > [Rain falls, wind blows, plants bloom, leaves mature and are blown away; these phenomena are all interrelated with causes and conditions, are brought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/rain-falls-wind-blows-plants-bloom-leaves-mature-and-are-blown-away/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [When a strong wind blows, the clouds vanish and blue sky appears. Similarly, when the powerful wisdom that understand the nature of the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thubten-yeshe/when-a-strong-wind-blows-the-clouds-vanish-and-blue-sky-appears/) [Thubten Yeshe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thubten-yeshe/) > [Let us not be surprised when we have to face difficulties. When the wind blows hard on a tree, the roots stretch and grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/let-us-not-be-surprised-when-we-have-to-face-difficulties-when-the/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) > [Happiness comes the way the wind blows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-lermontov/happiness-comes-the-way-the-wind-blows/) [Mikhail Lermontov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-lermontov/) > [It is a hard matter for a man to lie all over, nature having provided king's evidence in almost every member. The hand will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/it-is-a-hard-matter-for-a-man-to-lie-all-over-nature-having-provided/) [Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/) > [The same wind blows on us all; the winds of disaster, opportunity and change. Therefore, it is not the blowing of the wind, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-same-wind-blows-on-us-all-the-winds-of-disaster-opportunity-and/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal I carry inside me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/music-is-a-wind-that-blows-away-the-years-memories-and-fear-that/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Rattlesnakes would be a lot more dangerous if they didn't have the rattle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-sachar/rattlesnakes-would-be-a-lot-more-dangerous-if-they-didn-t-have-the/) [Louis Sachar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-sachar/) > [There are certain times you rattle the press's cages, and other times you don't, and you have to be discerning about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-fleischer/there-are-certain-times-you-rattle-the-press-s-cages-and-other-times/) [Ari Fleischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-fleischer/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. 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If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. 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