--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we don't speak, said Edgar, we…" description: "\"When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.\" — Herta Muller" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg" --- # When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and… ![“When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.” quote by Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg) > “When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.” [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Silence makes us unbearable, while speaking can make us look foolish, suggesting a paradox of communication. **In simple terms:** Silence is unbearable; speech can be foolish. Key Takeaway Balance speaking and listening wisely. Themes communication silence vulnerability Mood thoughtful cautious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - public speaking - personal relationships - team meetings - conflict resolution Key Concepts paradox social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When should you stay silent? - How do you avoid foolish speech? A Different Perspective Too much talk can cause harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Edgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgar/) [Edgar Unbearable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgar-unbearable-4568881/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools/) [Make Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-fools-385513/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Said Edgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-edgar-4568882/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Unbearable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unbearable/) ## Related quotes > [“that's what i mean about cats. they're always trying to make fools of us humans.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilian-jackson-braun/that-s-what-i-mean-about-cats-they-re-always-trying-to-make-fools-of/) [Lilian Jackson Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilian-jackson-braun/) > [Imagination cannot make fools wise, but it makes them happy, as against reason, which only makes its friends wretched: one covers them with glory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/imagination-cannot-make-fools-wise-but-it-makes-them-happy-as-against/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [People have no right to make fools of themselves, unless they have no relations to blush for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chandler-haliburton/people-have-no-right-to-make-fools-of-themselves-unless-they-have-no/) [Thomas Chandler Haliburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chandler-haliburton/) > [Politics will sooner or later make fools of everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-armey/politics-will-sooner-or-later-make-fools-of-everybody/) [Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-armey/) > [Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/do-you-think-that-the-things-people-make-fools-of-themselves-about-2/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/do-you-think-that-the-things-people-make-fools-of-themselves-about/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A cheerful, easy, open countenance will make fools think you a good-natured man, and make designing men think you an undesigning one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/a-cheerful-easy-open-countenance-will-make-fools-think-you-a-good/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Polanski is a great film director - although the much-acclaimed 'Chinatown' has a muddled script - but his true talent is to make fools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cohen/polanski-is-a-great-film-director-although-the-much-acclaimed/) [Richard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cohen/) > [People make fools out of themselves in all sorts of ways. 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"Strong enough to take on the world with our bare hands, yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-ahdieh/we-women-are-a-sad-lot-aren-t-we-what-do-you-mean-strong-enough-to/) [Renee Ahdieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-ahdieh/) > [Colleges don't make fools, they only develop them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-horace-lorimer/colleges-don-t-make-fools-they-only-develop-them/) [George Horace Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-horace-lorimer/) > [There is something about sex that always brings out the funny in me. I think it's because we make such fools of ourselves over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-moreno/there-is-something-about-sex-that-always-brings-out-the-funny-in-me-i/) [Rita Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-moreno/) > [The main purpose of the stock market is to make fools of as many men as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-baruch/the-main-purpose-of-the-stock-market-is-to-make-fools-of-as-many-men/) [Bernard Baruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-baruch/) > [We did make fools of ourselves, but people were into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ad-rock/we-did-make-fools-of-ourselves-but-people-were-into-it/) [Ad-Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ad-rock/) ## More by Herta Muller > [“And I’m different without you. You’re the only one who thinks you’re never different.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/and-i-m-different-without-you-you-re-the-only-one-who-thinks-you-re/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Working with language requires beauty for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/working-with-language-requires-beauty-for-me/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“I wanted to work out a trade with things that aren’t alive but aren’t dead either. I wanted to make an emergency exchange, trading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-wanted-to-work-out-a-trade-with-things-that-aren-t-alive-but-aren-t/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [My first book, 'Nadirs,' was very important for me. I'll leave its literary worth for others to judge. But its publication in Berlin in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/my-first-book-nadirs-was-very-important-for-me-i-ll-leave-its/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“I'm drawn outside to the empty yard of the afternoon. The wind tosses thin snow that crackles against my neck. With open hunger the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-m-drawn-outside-to-the-empty-yard-of-the-afternoon-the-wind-tosses/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The cabbage white flies through the tailor's cheek. The tailor sinks his head. The cabbage white flies out of the back of the tailor's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/the-cabbage-white-flies-through-the-tailor-s-cheek-the-tailor-sinks/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The reasaon I'm shy of objects is because I like them. I transfer the thoughts that are against me onto them. Then these thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/the-reasaon-i-m-shy-of-objects-is-because-i-like-them-i-transfer-the/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The gym instructor was the first to raise his hand. All the other hands flew up after his. While raising their hands, everybody looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/the-gym-instructor-was-the-first-to-raise-his-hand-all-the-other/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [I have packed myself into silence so deeply and for so long that I can never unpack myself using words. When I speak, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-have-packed-myself-into-silence-so-deeply-and-for-so-long-that-i/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [I never wanted to be a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-never-wanted-to-be-a-writer/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [To combat death you don't need much of a life, just one that isn't yet finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/to-combat-death-you-don-t-need-much-of-a-life-just-one-that-isn-t-yet/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Some people speak and sing and walk and sit and sleep and silence their homesickness, for a long time, and to no avail. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/some-people-speak-and-sing-and-walk-and-sit-and-sleep-and-silence/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“I wanted love to grow back, like the grass when it’s mown down. To grow differently, if need be, like children’s teeth, like hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-wanted-love-to-grow-back-like-the-grass-when-it-s-mown-down-to-grow/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Whatever I read went under my skin. I almost devoured the literature, which became like a road to discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/whatever-i-read-went-under-my-skin-i-almost-devoured-the-literature/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“Some say that over time homesickness loses its specific content, that it starts to smolder and only then becomes all-consuming, because it’s no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/some-say-that-over-time-homesickness-loses-its-specific-content-that/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) [Explore all 92 Herta Muller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) ## More Edgar quotes > [“To his brother Edgar he confided, “I suffer from the usual difficulty that besets the higher commander—things can be ordered and started, but actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-atkinson/to-his-brother-edgar-he-confided-i-suffer-from-the-usual-difficulty/) [Rick Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-atkinson/) > [Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/man-you-should-have-seen-them-kicking-edgar-allan-poe/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [In the Frankie Edgar fight, my eye was completely closed. I couldn't see nothing, but I was willing to keep on going. Not everybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yair-rodriguez/in-the-frankie-edgar-fight-my-eye-was-completely-closed-i-couldn-t/) [Yair Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yair-rodriguez/) > [Edgar Allen Poe really started me when I was 8. I fell in love with everything of his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/edgar-allen-poe-really-started-me-when-i-was-8-i-fell-in-love-with/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Edgar had a heart attack, and I'm to blame. We were making love, and I took the bag off my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/edgar-had-a-heart-attack-and-i-m-to-blame-we-were-making-love-and-i/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Complex man that he was, J. Edgar Hoover left nothing to chance. The director shrewdly recognized that building what became known as the world's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-kessler/complex-man-that-he-was-j-edgar-hoover-left-nothing-to-chance-the/) [Ronald Kessler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-kessler/) > [Mike Matheny, Fernando Vina, Edgar Renteria, Mark McGwire and Darryl Kile... before he died. Those guys took me under their wing and taught me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pujols/mike-matheny-fernando-vina-edgar-renteria-mark-mcgwire-and-darryl/) [Albert Pujols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pujols/) > [My first project was to build an ionization gauge control circuit for Professor Edgar Everhart's Cockcroft-Walton accelerator. In those days, vacuum tubes were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lee/my-first-project-was-to-build-an-ionization-gauge-control-circuit-for/) [David Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lee/) > [“What kind of dark, twisted mind preys on young women? I think it was Poe that said the death of a beautiful woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-crown/what-kind-of-dark-twisted-mind-preys-on-young-women-i-think-it-was/) [Bruce Crown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-crown/) > [By 1967, J. Edgar Hoover had concluded that the Black Panther Party had replaced the Communist Party as the gravest threat to national security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/by-1967-j-edgar-hoover-had-concluded-that-the-black-panther-party-had/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [“You know the story.” The Nalnom rotated his hand in the air as if she should recall it. “I don’t. I’ve never heard the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/you-know-the-story-the-nalnom-rotated-his-hand-in-the-air-as-if-she/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [I played at White Hart Lane against Michael Carrick and Edgar Davids when I was 18.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-noble/i-played-at-white-hart-lane-against-michael-carrick-and-edgar-davids/) [Mark Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-noble/) > [I think there's a lot of, unfortunately, unfunny ventriloquists out there, so they've got a bad rap. It came after Edgar Bergen because everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dunham/i-think-there-s-a-lot-of-unfortunately-unfunny-ventriloquists-out/) [Jeff Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dunham/) > [Epilepsy is a disease in the shadows. Patients are often reluctant to admit their condition - even to close family, friends or co-workers -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-resnick/epilepsy-is-a-disease-in-the-shadows-patients-are-often-reluctant-to/) [Lynda Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-resnick/) > [Edgar Sawtelle is a boy without a voice, but his world, populated by the dogs his family breeds, is anything but silent. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalia-sofer/edgar-sawtelle-is-a-boy-without-a-voice-but-his-world-populated-by/) [Dalia Sofer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalia-sofer/) [Browse all 52 Edgar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgar/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herta Muller" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become-unbearable-and-when-we-do-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Edgar" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become-unbearable-and-when-we-do-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/herta-m-ller-4269_fool_when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become_1346994.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.” — Herta Muller", "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": "Herta Muller", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When we don't speak, said Edgar,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become-unbearable-and-when-we-do-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/when-we-don-t-speak-said-edgar-we-become-unbearable-and-when-we-do-we/#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 } } ] } ```