--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The unusual thing about quiet is that…" description: "\"“The unusual thing about quiet is that when you seek it, it is almost impossible to achieve. When you strive for quiet, you become impatient, and impat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/hilary-thayer-hamann-14252_impatience_the-unusual-thing-about-quiet-is-that-wh_271012.jpg" --- # The unusual thing about quiet is that when you seek it, it… ![“The unusual thing about quiet is that when you seek it, it is almost impossible to achieve. When you strive for quiet, you become impatient, and impatience is itself a noiseless noise. You can block every superficial sound, but, with each new layer extinguished, a next rises up, finer and more…” quote by Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/hilary-thayer-hamann-14252_impatience_the-unusual-thing-about-quiet-is-that-wh_271012.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/hilary-thayer-hamann-14252_impatience_the-unusual-thing-about-quiet-is-that-wh_271012.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/hilary-thayer-hamann-14252_impatience_the-unusual-thing-about-quiet-is-that-wh_271012.jpg) > ““The unusual thing about quiet is that when you seek it, it is almost impossible to achieve. When you strive for quiet, you become impatient, and impatience is itself a noiseless noise. You can block every superficial sound, but, with each new layer extinguished, a next rises up, finer and more entrapping, until you arrive at last in the infinite attitude of your own riotous mind. Inside is where all the memories last like wells, and the unspoken wishes like golden buds, and the pain that you keep, lingering and implicit, staying inside, nesting inside, articulating, articulating, through to the day you die. (p. 240)”” [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeking silence creates inner turbulence; the mind fills the void with layered thoughts and emotions, making true quiet elusive. **In simple terms:** Trying to be quiet makes the mind noisy. Key Takeaway Accept inner noise instead of fighting it. Themes mindfulness inner peace psychology Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - creative writing - therapy - stress relief Key Concepts self-awareness mental clutter impermanence Questions to Reflect On - How do you notice inner chatter? - What practices help you sit with silence? A Different Perspective Quiet may be unattainable if you resist it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Impatience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impatience/) ## Related quotes > [Don't aim at any impossible heroisms. Strive rather to be quiet in your own sphere. Don't live in the cloudland of some transcendental heaven;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-morley-punshon/don-t-aim-at-any-impossible-heroisms-strive-rather-to-be-quiet-in/) [William Morley Punshon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-morley-punshon/) > [Stay open and quiet, that is all. What you seek is so near you that there is no place for a way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/stay-open-and-quiet-that-is-all-what-you-seek-is-so-near-you-that/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“The peace and quiet we seek left home for nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-peace-and-quiet-we-seek-left-home-for-nature/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The real dance is within; it is within your mind. Everything is inside your mind. God is inside your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-real-dance-is-within-it-is-within-your-mind-everything-is-inside/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I want to find What I cannot see Can it really be Hidden inside of me I look into the mirror Only to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curly-girl/i-want-to-find-what-i-cannot-see-can-it-really-be-hidden-inside-of-me/) Curly Girl > [“I also figured out that I could use my workouts as a form of meditation because I concentrate so much on the muscle, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/i-also-figured-out-that-i-could-use-my-workouts-as-a-form-of/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [“The science of Raja-Yoga, in the first place, proposes to give us such a means of observing the internal states. The instrument is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-science-of-raja-yoga-in-the-first-place-proposes-to-give-us-such/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Winning the World Cup is something that will always be inside your mind and inside your body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-mata/winning-the-world-cup-is-something-that-will-always-be-inside-your/) [Juan Mata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-mata/) > [I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-impressed-i-ve-never-met-such-a-small-mind-inside-such-a-big-head/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She could not make up her mind what would be inside his head and what out. She thought of her own head as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/she-could-not-make-up-her-mind-what-would-be-inside-his-head-and-what/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“S&M is as psychological as it is physical and sexual, Zach. Imagine being as deep inside a woman’s mind as you are inside her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-reisz/s-m-is-as-psychological-as-it-is-physical-and-sexual-zach-imagine/) [Tiffany Reisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-reisz/) > [“Watching Tommy perform this scene, I wondered what his psychologist or psychiatrist had made of him. I tried to image Tommy's mind from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-sestero/watching-tommy-perform-this-scene-i-wondered-what-his-psychologist-or/) [Greg Sestero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-sestero/) > [“You have to know your own mind inside out before you can know the minds of others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amaya-ellman/you-have-to-know-your-own-mind-inside-out-before-you-can-know-the/) [Amaya Ellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amaya-ellman/) > [God is never late, we're just impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/god-is-never-late-we-re-just-impatient/) [LeCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“The drivers here are horrible. And by horrible, I mean they don't realize I have someplace to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/the-drivers-here-are-horrible-and-by-horrible-i-mean-they-don-t/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) ## More by Hilary Thayer Hamann > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. How could there be God in loneliness when God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/hell-is-only-loneliness-a-place-without-play-for-the-soul-a-place/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“Having to talk to people was the one thing, but soliciting conversation was something else. If I acted squirmy or didn't make eye contact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/having-to-talk-to-people-was-the-one-thing-but-soliciting/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“I shook my head. I couldn't remember the time before, or the way it used to be. There were things we used to do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/i-shook-my-head-i-couldn-t-remember-the-time-before-or-the-way-it/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“Why remain polite but powerless, in love but a beggar?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/why-remain-polite-but-powerless-in-love-but-a-beggar/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“They were sorting, or classifying. It's easy-anyone dressed funny is the enemy, especially if they reject your supremacy or do not acknowledge school as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/they-were-sorting-or-classifying-it-s-easy-anyone-dressed-funny-is/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“The families of graduating seniors emptied out of cars, sheepish in uncommon splendor, like milling clans at the origin of a parade. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/the-families-of-graduating-seniors-emptied-out-of-cars-sheepish-in/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [And loneliness. I should say something of loneliness. The panic, the sweeping hysteria that comes not when you are without others, but when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/and-loneliness-i-should-say-something-of-loneliness-the-panic-the/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“My mother refuses to go into the ocean. She respects it, she says, which is basically the same as saying she's afraid. I go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/my-mother-refuses-to-go-into-the-ocean-she-respects-it-she-says-which/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“I liked the idea of marking the place where a life ends as opposed to the place a corpse is buried. And also the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/i-liked-the-idea-of-marking-the-place-where-a-life-ends-as-opposed-to/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“My hand reaches for his eye. He does not pull away but breathes into my touch. His normal lid drifts closed, and beneath my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/my-hand-reaches-for-his-eye-he-does-not-pull-away-but-breathes-into/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“Envy is awful. Unlike jealousy, which comes from the threat of losing what you cherish, envy is a dark desire for things over which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/envy-is-awful-unlike-jealousy-which-comes-from-the-threat-of-losing/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“Jocks were pretty much exempt from the standards that bound the rest of us. Teachers and administrators humor them because it's in everyone's interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/jocks-were-pretty-much-exempt-from-the-standards-that-bound-the-rest/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“This is where I falter. This is where I lose myself. This is where years invert and minutes reverse and ideas of what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/this-is-where-i-falter-this-is-where-i-lose-myself-this-is-where/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“If you travel internationally, you will feel shocked by contemptuous talk of America. To hear your fellow citizens characterized as barbarians who know nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/if-you-travel-internationally-you-will-feel-shocked-by-contemptuous/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [“Lying is a full time occupation, even if you tell just one, because once you tell it, you're stuck with it. If you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/lying-is-a-full-time-occupation-even-if-you-tell-just-one-because/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) [Explore all 47 Hilary Thayer Hamann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) ## More Impatience quotes > [“The drivers here are horrible. And by horrible, I mean they don't realize I have someplace to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/the-drivers-here-are-horrible-and-by-horrible-i-mean-they-don-t/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [God is never late, we're just impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/god-is-never-late-we-re-just-impatient/) [LeCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience… Those who hope in Christ can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-rgen-moltmann/that-is-why-faith-wherever-it-develops-into-hope-causes-not-rest-but/) [Jürgen Moltmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-rgen-moltmann/) > [Advent is patience it's how God has made us a people of promise, in a world of impatience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/advent-is-patience-it-s-how-god-has-made-us-a-people-of-promise-in-a/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [Patience in planning & Impatience in execution.. Always creates Miracles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/patience-in-planning-impatience-in-execution-always-creates-miracles/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [When we define our happiness by some point in the future, it will never arrive. We'll keep waiting until tomorrow. If we allow impatience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-harris/when-we-define-our-happiness-by-some-point-in-the-future-it-will/) [Joshua Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-harris/) > [“Transform your impatience into commitment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ela-crain/transform-your-impatience-into-commitment/) [Ela Crain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ela-crain/) > [“The impatience you felt before kissing someone you liked wasn't nearly as bad as the impatience you felt afterward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-gray/the-impatience-you-felt-before-kissing-someone-you-liked-wasn-t/) [Claudia Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-gray/) > [Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/learn-the-art-of-patience-apply-discipline-to-your-thoughts-when-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/the-less-you-associate-with-some-people-the-more-your-life-will/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [Thought I'd give impatience a try. Got a little enveloped in time. Cuz I watch you come and watch you go and it don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-ready-set/thought-i-d-give-impatience-a-try-got-a-little-enveloped-in-time-cuz/) [The Ready Set](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-ready-set/) > [What you're missing is that the path itself changes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-you-re-missing-is-that-the-path-itself-changes-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The cure for impatience with the fulfillment of God's timetable is to believe His promises, obey His will, and leave the results to Him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/the-cure-for-impatience-with-the-fulfillment-of-god-s-timetable-is-to/) [Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/) [Browse all 470 Impatience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impatience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The unusual thing about quiet is that when you seek it, it is almost impossible to achieve. 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