--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So it’s not a problem of getting people…" description: "\"“So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/gilles-deleuze-3530_quote_so-it-s-not-a-problem-of-getting-people_984865.jpg" --- # So it’s not a problem of getting people to express… ![“So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. Repressive forces don’t stop people expressing themselves but rather force them to express themselves; What a relief to have…” quote by Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/gilles-deleuze-3530_quote_so-it-s-not-a-problem-of-getting-people_984865.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/gilles-deleuze-3530_quote_so-it-s-not-a-problem-of-getting-people_984865.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/gilles-deleuze-3530_quote_so-it-s-not-a-problem-of-getting-people_984865.jpg) > ““So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. Repressive forces don’t stop people expressing themselves but rather force them to express themselves; What a relief to have nothing to say, the right to say nothing, because only then is there a chance of framing the rare, and ever rarer, thing that might be worth saying.”” [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Solitude creates space for authentic expression; repression forces speech but true insight emerges from silence. **In simple terms:** Silence lets genuine ideas surface. Key Takeaway Seek quiet moments to hear deeper thoughts. Themes solitude expression authenticity Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - meditation - therapy - artistic brainstorming Key Concepts existentialism psychology communication Questions to Reflect On - How does silence shape your inner voice? - When is speaking more valuable than silence? A Different Perspective Silence may also breed stagnation or missed opportunities for dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Expressing Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expressing-force-1978970/) [People Expressing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-expressing-1978971/) [Say Repressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-repressive-1978969/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Solitude Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude-silence-385991/) ## Related quotes > [The problem is no longer getting people to express themselves, but providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/the-problem-is-no-longer-getting-people-to-express-themselves-but/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [Some cultures tried to stop people from expressing themselves. In Mao's China, for example, the Communists tried to stop individual expression. For them the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/some-cultures-tried-to-stop-people-from-expressing-themselves-in-mao/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [I couldn't really say that a repressive society would result in creative art. But somehow it does help, it is an ingredient, it acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kani/i-couldn-t-really-say-that-a-repressive-society-would-result-in/) [John Kani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kani/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [St. John of the Cross points out that the divine music can best be heard in solitude and silence. The sonorous music is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-cumming/st-john-of-the-cross-points-out-that-the-divine-music-can-best-be/) [Charles Cumming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-cumming/) > [“Now the voices and the sound of movement were gone, and the stream could be heard running quietly under its banks. The air was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/now-the-voices-and-the-sound-of-movement-were-gone-and-the-stream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Not a breath, not a sound—except at intervals the muffled crackling of stones that the cold was reducing to sand—disturbed the solitude and silence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/not-a-breath-not-a-sound-except-at-intervals-the-muffled-crackling-of/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I guess it all depends on your nature. Some people can't stand being alone. I love solitude and silence. But when I come out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/i-guess-it-all-depends-on-your-nature-some-people-can-t-stand-being/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [“But—for good reasons rooted deeply in the nature of the person and of personal relationships—his preferred way is to speak, to communicate: thus the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/but-for-good-reasons-rooted-deeply-in-the-nature-of-the-person-and-of/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [The mark of solitude is silence, as speech is the mark of community. Silence and speech have the same inner correspondence and difference as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-mark-of-solitude-is-silence-as-speech-is-the-mark-of-community/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Solitude and silence teach me to love my friends for what they are, not for what they say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solitude-and-silence-teach-me-to-love-my-friends-for-what-they-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ If I'm going to continue to be any kind of spiritual teacher, I've got to go deeper myself. And so for me, \[I am\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/if-i-m-going-to-continue-to-be-any-kind-of-spiritual-teacher-i-ve-got/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Our religious activities should be ordered in such a way as to have plenty of time for the cultivation of the fruits of solitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-religious-activities-should-be-ordered-in-such-a-way-as-to-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/solitude-and-silence-teach-me-to-love-my-brothers-for-what-they-are/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The simplest spiritual discipline is some degree of solitude and silence. But it's the hardest, because none of us want to be with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/the-simplest-spiritual-discipline-is-some-degree-of-solitude-and/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) ## More by Gilles Deleuze > [“Philosophy is the theory of multiplicities, each of which is composed of actual and virtual elements. Purely actual objects do not exist. Every actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/philosophy-is-the-theory-of-multiplicities-each-of-which-is-composed/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. And everything that I learn, I learn for a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/i-have-no-admiration-for-culture-i-have-no-reserve-knowledge-no/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [A leftist government doesn't exist because being on the left has nothing to do with governments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/a-leftist-government-doesn-t-exist-because-being-on-the-left-has/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [“The best one can hope for is a government favorable to certain claims and demands from the Left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/the-best-one-can-hope-for-is-a-government-favorable-to-certain-claims/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [Things never pass where you think, nor along the paths you think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/things-never-pass-where-you-think-nor-along-the-paths-you-think/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [ Either it is the fold of the infinite, or the constant folds \[replis\] of finitude which curve the outside and constitute the inside. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/either-it-is-the-fold-of-the-infinite-or-the-constant-folds-replis-of/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [“The modulating principle of “salary according to merit” has not failed to tempt national education itself. Indeed, just as the corporation replaces the factory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/the-modulating-principle-of-salary-according-to-merit-has-not-failed/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [The various forms of education or ‘normalization’ imposed upon an individual consist in making him or her change points of subjectification, always moving towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/the-various-forms-of-education-or-normalization-imposed-upon-an/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [External images act on me, transmit movement to me, and I return movement: how could images be in my consciousness since I am myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/external-images-act-on-me-transmit-movement-to-me-and-i-return/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/a-concept-is-a-brick-it-can-be-used-to-build-a-courthouse-of-reason/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [The problem is no longer getting people to express themselves, but providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/the-problem-is-no-longer-getting-people-to-express-themselves-but/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [Intensities are implicated multiplicities, 'implexes,' made up of relations between asymmetrical elements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/intensities-are-implicated-multiplicities-implexes-made-up-of/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [There’s no democratic state that’s not compromised to the very core by its part in generating human misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/there-s-no-democratic-state-that-s-not-compromised-to-the-very-core/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [Photography, if there is photography, is already snapped, already shot, in the very interior of things and for all points of space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/photography-if-there-is-photography-is-already-snapped-already-shot/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [The use of philosophy is to sadden. A philosophy which saddens no one, that annoys no one, is not a philosophy. It is useful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/the-use-of-philosophy-is-to-sadden-a-philosophy-which-saddens-no-one/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) [Explore all 120 Gilles Deleuze quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) ## More Silence quotes > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [I just can’t, Nick, okay? Now, please give me a second to lie here in silence and bleed.” – Caleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-just-can-t-nick-okay-now-please-give-me-a-second-to-lie-here-in/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“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/) > [“A word is not filling in the gaps, but the fertilization of silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/a-word-is-not-filling-in-the-gaps-but-the-fertilization-of-silence/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“I’m not like her. I don’t steal people.” Mr. Tibbalt watched her, saying nothing. The silence made Victoria bristle. “Well, I don’t.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-legrand/i-m-not-like-her-i-don-t-steal-people-mr-tibbalt-watched-her-saying/) [Claire Legrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-legrand/) > [Silence can be the world's strongest weapon in torturing people's emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/silence-can-be-the-world-s-strongest-weapon-in-torturing-people-s/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“Proverbs from the East: The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. Even though I make no special attempt to observe the discipline of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/proverbs-from-the-east-the-wind-howls-but-the-mountain-remains-still/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“When all are one sentience, Language withers and fades away. Let's sit together and speak in silence, Let's be light to each other's way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-all-are-one-sentience-language-withers-and-fades-away-let-s-sit/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [True friendship is sitting together in silence and feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-friendship-is-sitting-together-in-silence-and-feeling-like-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“So what did God say to me in the silence that morning? I’m not sure, but I think God said something like, Don’t try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/so-what-did-god-say-to-me-in-the-silence-that-morning-i-m-not-sure/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [If nothing that can be seen can either be God or represent Him to us as He is, then to find God we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-nothing-that-can-be-seen-can-either-be-god-or-represent-him-to-us/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [I suppose he'll just have to do," she amended. "You'll have to suffer in silence with your male model...I feel for you." "Oh, stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-adornetto/i-suppose-he-ll-just-have-to-do-she-amended-you-ll-have-to-suffer-in/) [Alexandra Adornetto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-adornetto/) > [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/) > [“I once asked you what anxiety felt like, and you told me that most days left you riddled with bullet holes. Every morning came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-s/i-once-asked-you-what-anxiety-felt-like-and-you-told-me-that-most/) [d.a.s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-s/) [Browse all 8,731 Silence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. 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