--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The studious silence of the library…" description: "\"The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.\" — James Joyce" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg" --- # The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the… ![“The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.” quote by James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg) > “The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.” [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes the library as a place of deep, reflective silence where thinking becomes self-aware, and the mind finds calm clarity. **In simple terms:** Quiet introspection in a library. Key Takeaway Silence nurtures meta‑cognition. Themes reflection knowledge mindfulness solitude clarity Mood contemplative serene introspective Type philosophical literary inspirational When to use this quote - studying alone - researching in archives - contemplating literature - seeking inspiration - meditative reading Key Concepts meta‑cognition tranquility intellectual pursuit Practical Applications - enhancing focus - cultivating deep thought Questions to Reflect On - How does silence affect your thinking? - What does 'thought of thought' mean to you? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brightness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brightness/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Library Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library-thought-399806/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silence Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-library-399809/) [Studious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/studious/) [Studious Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/studious-silence-399808/) [Thought Tranquil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-tranquil-399807/) [Tranquil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tranquil/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [The studious silence of the library ... Tranquil brightness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-tranquil-brightness/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Well, I thought I was so tranquil! I need to give up that illusion! There is decidedly no rest to be had in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/well-i-thought-i-was-so-tranquil-i-need-to-give-up-that-illusion/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [A library is thought in cold storage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-library-is-thought-in-cold-storage/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“With its reverent silence the Library was as close to a religious experience as anything he had ever encountered. Its domed reading room was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-allen/with-its-reverent-silence-the-library-was-as-close-to-a-religious/) [J.E Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-allen/) > [He said 'I'm going to chop off the bottom of one of your trouser legs and put it in a library. I thought, "That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-cooper/he-said-i-m-going-to-chop-off-the-bottom-of-one-of-your-trouser-legs/) [Tommy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-cooper/) > [He that pines with hunger, is in little care how others shall be fed. The poor man is seldom studious to make his grandson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/he-that-pines-with-hunger-is-in-little-care-how-others-shall-be-fed/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [My high school, like most high schools, had a pretty rigid stratification system. Kids were clustered into groups - the studious ones, the athletes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/my-high-school-like-most-high-schools-had-a-pretty-rigid/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [I went to a very academically competitive high school. So I was always quite studious and quiet, just to keep up with the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-barnes/i-went-to-a-very-academically-competitive-high-school-so-i-was-always/) [Ben Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-barnes/) > [Walk in this faithless grass with studious tread, Lest mice, weasels, germane beasts, too soon The tall hat and eyes, the fierce feet, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/walk-in-this-faithless-grass-with-studious-tread-lest-mice-weasels/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Today, luxury resides in everything that is becoming rare: communion with nature, silence, meditation, slowness rediscovered, the pleasure of living out of step with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/today-luxury-resides-in-everything-that-is-becoming-rare-communion/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [“The learned and the studious of thought have no monopoly of wisdom. Their violence of direction in some degree disqualifies them to think truly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-learned-and-the-studious-of-thought-have-no-monopoly-of-wisdom/) [ralph waldo emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Steinitz was a thinker worthy of a seat in the halls of a university. A player, as the world believed he was, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/steinitz-was-a-thinker-worthy-of-a-seat-in-the-halls-of-a-university/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [I was studious and bookish. Not just as a child but also as a teenager. I took myself too seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/i-was-studious-and-bookish-not-just-as-a-child-but-also-as-a-teenager/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [I'm quite a studious person, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-higgins/i-m-quite-a-studious-person-i-think/) [Alex Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-higgins/) > [I was very studious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-very-studious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by James Joyce > [He found in the world without as actual what was in his world within as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-found-in-the-world-without-as-actual-what-was-in-his-world-within/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“Ah, poor dogsbody! Here lies poor dogsbody's body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/ah-poor-dogsbody-here-lies-poor-dogsbody-s-body/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Shaw's works make me admire the magnificent tolerance and broadmindedness of the english.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/shaw-s-works-make-me-admire-the-magnificent-tolerance-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“Do you know what Ireland is?' asked Stephen with cold violence. 'Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/do-you-know-what-ireland-is-asked-stephen-with-cold-violence-ireland/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“two cronies drank to the memory of their past. An abyss of fortune or of temperament sundered him from them. His mind seemed older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/two-cronies-drank-to-the-memory-of-their-past-an-abyss-of-fortune-or/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [He passes, struck by the stare of truculent Wellington but in the convex mirror grin unstruck the bonham eyes and fatchuck cheekchops of Jollypoldy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-passes-struck-by-the-stare-of-truculent-wellington-but-in-the/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“-Qui vous a mis dans cette fichue position?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/qui-vous-a-mis-dans-cette-fichue-position/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I hear the ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppled masonry, and time one livid final flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/i-hear-the-ruin-of-all-space-shattered-glass-and-toppled-masonry-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/full-many-a-flower-is-born-to-blush-unseen/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [In woman's womb word is made flesh but in the spirit of the maker all flesh that passes becomes the word that shall not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/in-woman-s-womb-word-is-made-flesh-but-in-the-spirit-of-the-maker-all/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Though people may read more into Ulysses than I ever intended, who is to say that they are wrong: do any of us know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/though-people-may-read-more-into-ulysses-than-i-ever-intended-who-is/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/history-stephen-said-is-a-nightmare-from-which-i-am-trying-to-awake/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“It flows purling, widely flowing, floating foampool, flower unfurling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/it-flows-purling-widely-flowing-floating-foampool-flower-unfurling/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“The artist, like the God of creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-artist-like-the-god-of-creation-remains-within-or-behind-or/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) [Explore all 707 James Joyce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## More Brightness quotes > [God's glory is the created brightness that surrounds God’s revelation of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-grudem/god-s-glory-is-the-created-brightness-that-surrounds-god-s-revelation/) [Wayne Grudem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-grudem/) > [Only an empowered personality can distribute the holy name of the Lord and enjoin all fallen souls to worship Krishna. By distributing the holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhaktisiddhanta-sarasvati/only-an-empowered-personality-can-distribute-the-holy-name-of-the/) [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhaktisiddhanta-sarasvati/) > [Daily simple, sincere, and mighty prayers lift our lives to a higher spiritual altitude. In our prayers we praise God, give thanks to Him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/daily-simple-sincere-and-mighty-prayers-lift-our-lives-to-a-higher/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [But woe to him, who left to moan, Reviews the hours of brightness gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/but-woe-to-him-who-left-to-moan-reviews-the-hours-of-brightness-gone/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [A joyful life isn’t about others; it’s about the brightness that is associated with being alive. Your path to it is through anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/a-joyful-life-isn-t-about-others-it-s-about-the-brightness-that-is/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [Without good humour, learning and bravery can only confer that superiority which swells the heart of the lion in the desert, where he roars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/without-good-humour-learning-and-bravery-can-only-confer-that/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [For pain is perhaps but a violent pleasure? Who could determine the point where pleasure becomes pain, where pain is still a pleasure? Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/for-pain-is-perhaps-but-a-violent-pleasure-who-could-determine-the/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [His form had yet not lost All her original brightness, nor appear'd Less than archangel ruin'd, and th' excess Of glory obscur'd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/his-form-had-yet-not-lost-all-her-original-brightness-nor-appear-d/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [More than anything, one is struck by the light. Light everywhere. Brightness everywhere. Everywhere, the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/more-than-anything-one-is-struck-by-the-light-light-everywhere/) [Ryszard Kapuscinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [Squeeze your eyes closed, as tight as you can, and think of all your favorite autumns, crisp and perfect, all bound up together like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/squeeze-your-eyes-closed-as-tight-as-you-can-and-think-of-all-your/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Writing is to descend like a miner to the depths of the mine with a lamp on your forehead, a light whose dubious brightness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-cendrars/writing-is-to-descend-like-a-miner-to-the-depths-of-the-mine-with-a/) [Blaise Cendrars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-cendrars/) > [What a view, i said again. The river was blank and mindless with beauty. It was the most glorious thing I have ever seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/what-a-view-i-said-again-the-river-was-blank-and-mindless-with-beauty/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [It is no secret that the moon has no light of her own, but is, as it were, a mirror, receiving brightness from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/it-is-no-secret-that-the-moon-has-no-light-of-her-own-but-is-as-it/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Christ is already in that place of peace, which is all in all. He is on the right hand of God. He is hidden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/christ-is-already-in-that-place-of-peace-which-is-all-in-all-he-is-on/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [Those who are called to the table of the Lord must glow with the brightness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-capistrano/those-who-are-called-to-the-table-of-the-lord-must-glow-with-the/) [John of Capistrano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-capistrano/) [Browse all 287 Brightness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brightness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Joyce" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brightness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/james-joyce-281_brightness_the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thou_21911.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.” — James Joyce", "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": "James Joyce", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The studious silence of the library...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/#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 } } ] } ```