--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas…" description: "\"“Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas continued their whine, indifferent to human tragedies.”\" — Jean-Claude Izzo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png" --- # Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas continued their… ![“Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas continued their whine, indifferent to human tragedies.” quote by Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png) > ““Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas continued their whine, indifferent to human tragedies.”” [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in catastrophe, nature’s indifferent sounds persist, highlighting human suffering’s insignificance. **In simple terms:** Nature continues indifferent to human suffering. Key Takeaway Recognize the broader perspective beyond personal grief. Themes suffering indifference nature humanity Mood somber contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - war zones - natural disasters - personal loss - urban decay Key Concepts existentialism environmental indifference psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does the cicada’s song teach about resilience? - How do we find meaning when nature seems uncaring? A Different Perspective Nature’s indifference can feel cold, not comforting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cicadas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cicadas/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests they are about to die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/nothing-in-the-cry-of-cicadas-suggests-they-are-about-to-die/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [I work even in the middle of the day, in the full sunshine, and I enjoy it like a cicada.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-work-even-in-the-middle-of-the-day-in-the-full-sunshine-and-i-enjoy/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [I closed my eyes and listened to the occasional chirps of tiny birds hidden in the trees around us, the bubbling of water over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessi-kirby/i-closed-my-eyes-and-listened-to-the-occasional-chirps-of-tiny-birds/) [Jessi Kirby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessi-kirby/) > [Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/calm-and-serene-the-sound-of-a-cicada-penetrates-the-rock/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [I guess I felt attached to my weakness. My pain and suffering too. Summer light, the smell of a breeze, the sound of cicadas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-guess-i-felt-attached-to-my-weakness-my-pain-and-suffering-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The heat is searing and superb. The paddocks surrounding the town are bleached blond. The distant ring-barked gums, mile after mile, wriggle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-heat-is-searing-and-superb-the-paddocks-surrounding-the-town-are/) [Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/) > [“The cicadas, as if they were wired on the same circuit, suddenly filled the garden with a loud burst of celebration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/the-cicadas-as-if-they-were-wired-on-the-same-circuit-suddenly-filled/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“But now I wanted nothing more than to be the girl so free that fireflies shined as her night-lights, cicadas sang her symphonies, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meagan-church/but-now-i-wanted-nothing-more-than-to-be-the-girl-so-free-that/) Meagan Church > [Don't buy society's definition of success. Because it's not working for anyone. It's not working for women, it's not working for men, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/don-t-buy-society-s-definition-of-success-because-it-s-not-working/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [Counting stars by candlelight all are dim but one is bright; the spiral light of Venus rising first and shining best, from the northwest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hunter/counting-stars-by-candlelight-all-are-dim-but-one-is-bright-the/) [Robert Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hunter/) > [Mama used to tell us a story about a cicada sitting high in a tree. It chirps and drinks in dew, oblivious to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/mama-used-to-tell-us-a-story-about-a-cicada-sitting-high-in-a-tree-it/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [In White Summer, Joelle Biele exhibits a Roethke-like affinity with nature and natures creatures. At times a miniaturist, Biele constructs exquisite addresses to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-spires/in-white-summer-joelle-biele-exhibits-a-roethke-like-affinity-with/) Elizabeth Spires > [Again and again, the cicada's untiring cry pierced the sultry summer air like a needle at work on thick cotton cloth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/again-and-again-the-cicada-s-untiring-cry-pierced-the-sultry-summer/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/do-you-know-the-legend-about-cicadas-they-say-they-are-the-souls-of/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [“The cicadas were singing a song. It was a one-noted, one-worded; The words sounded like "please". They were singing and singing and singing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-foxlee/the-cicadas-were-singing-a-song-it-was-a-one-noted-one-worded-the/) [Karen Foxlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-foxlee/) ## More by Jean-Claude Izzo > [“Killing was easy. Dying was something else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/killing-was-easy-dying-was-something-else/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“After that, we weren't the same anymore. We'd become men. Disillusioned and cynical. Slightly bitter too. We had nothing. We hadn't even learned a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/after-that-we-weren-t-the-same-anymore-we-d-become-men-disillusioned/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“Leila was untouchable. She was in my heart now, and I'd carry her always, on this earth that every day gives men a chance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/leila-was-untouchable-she-was-in-my-heart-now-and-i-d-carry-her/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“Ordinary French people. Citizens of fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/ordinary-french-people-citizens-of-fear/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“We fought over a girl's smile, not because of the color of our skins. It created friendships, not hatreds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/we-fought-over-a-girl-s-smile-not-because-of-the-color-of-our-skins/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“It's at moment of misfortune that we remember we're all exiles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/it-s-at-moment-of-misfortune-that-we-remember-we-re-all-exiles/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [The sensuality of desperate lives. Only poets talk like that. But poetry has never had an answer for anything. All it does it bear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/the-sensuality-of-desperate-lives-only-poets-talk-like-that-but/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“Our taste for books came from Antonin, an old second-hand bookseller, an anarchist, whose shop was on Cours Julien. We'd cut classes to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/our-taste-for-books-came-from-antonin-an-old-second-hand-bookseller/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“I don't like answering private questions. The answers are often ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. Even when the other person is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/i-don-t-like-answering-private-questions-the-answers-are-often/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [I'd spent half of my life crying, the other half refusing to cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/i-d-spent-half-of-my-life-crying-the-other-half-refusing-to-cry/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“So much violence. If God existed, I'd have strangled him on the spot. Without batting an eyelid. And with all the fury of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/so-much-violence-if-god-existed-i-d-have-strangled-him-on-the-spot/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“Days are only beautiful early in the morning. I should have remembered that. Dawn is merely an illusion that the world is beautiful. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/days-are-only-beautiful-early-in-the-morning-i-should-have-remembered/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“You ought to get out more. You know, Pérol, we should go out some evening, just you and me. Otherwise, you lose touch with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/you-ought-to-get-out-more-you-know-p-rol-we-should-go-out-some/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“...I understand where you're coming from. I know it isn't just a question of revenge. It's the feeling there are some things you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/i-understand-where-you-re-coming-from-i-know-it-isn-t-just-a-question/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) > [“The one thing I could give them was a smile. I've always been good at smiles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/the-one-thing-i-could-give-them-was-a-smile-i-ve-always-been-good-at/) [Jean-Claude Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) [Explore all 26 Jean-Claude Izzo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/) ## More Cicadas quotes > [Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests they are about to die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/nothing-in-the-cry-of-cicadas-suggests-they-are-about-to-die/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/do-you-know-the-legend-about-cicadas-they-say-they-are-the-souls-of/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Again and again, the cicada's untiring cry pierced the sultry summer air like a needle at work on thick cotton cloth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/again-and-again-the-cicada-s-untiring-cry-pierced-the-sultry-summer/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [In White Summer, Joelle Biele exhibits a Roethke-like affinity with nature and natures creatures. At times a miniaturist, Biele constructs exquisite addresses to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-spires/in-white-summer-joelle-biele-exhibits-a-roethke-like-affinity-with/) Elizabeth Spires > [Mama used to tell us a story about a cicada sitting high in a tree. It chirps and drinks in dew, oblivious to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/mama-used-to-tell-us-a-story-about-a-cicada-sitting-high-in-a-tree-it/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [Counting stars by candlelight all are dim but one is bright; the spiral light of Venus rising first and shining best, from the northwest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hunter/counting-stars-by-candlelight-all-are-dim-but-one-is-bright-the/) [Robert Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hunter/) > [Don't buy society's definition of success. Because it's not working for anyone. It's not working for women, it's not working for men, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/don-t-buy-society-s-definition-of-success-because-it-s-not-working/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [“But now I wanted nothing more than to be the girl so free that fireflies shined as her night-lights, cicadas sang her symphonies, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meagan-church/but-now-i-wanted-nothing-more-than-to-be-the-girl-so-free-that/) Meagan Church > [“The cicadas, as if they were wired on the same circuit, suddenly filled the garden with a loud burst of celebration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/the-cicadas-as-if-they-were-wired-on-the-same-circuit-suddenly-filled/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [The heat is searing and superb. The paddocks surrounding the town are bleached blond. The distant ring-barked gums, mile after mile, wriggle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-porter/the-heat-is-searing-and-superb-the-paddocks-surrounding-the-town-are/) [Hal Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-porter/) > [I guess I felt attached to my weakness. My pain and suffering too. Summer light, the smell of a breeze, the sound of cicadas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-guess-i-felt-attached-to-my-weakness-my-pain-and-suffering-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/calm-and-serene-the-sound-of-a-cicada-penetrates-the-rock/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [I closed my eyes and listened to the occasional chirps of tiny birds hidden in the trees around us, the bubbling of water over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessi-kirby/i-closed-my-eyes-and-listened-to-the-occasional-chirps-of-tiny-birds/) [Jessi Kirby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessi-kirby/) > [I work even in the middle of the day, in the full sunshine, and I enjoy it like a cicada.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-work-even-in-the-middle-of-the-day-in-the-full-sunshine-and-i-enjoy/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [“The cicadas were singing a song. It was a one-noted, one-worded; The words sounded like "please". They were singing and singing and singing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-foxlee/the-cicadas-were-singing-a-song-it-was-a-one-noted-one-worded-the/) [Karen Foxlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-foxlee/) [Browse all 33 Cicadas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cicadas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas continued their whine, indifferent to human tragedies.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean-Claude Izzo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-continued-their-whine/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cicadas" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-continued-their-whine/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ed/jean-claude-izzo-22789_cicadas_nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-con_908510.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas continued their whine, indifferent to human tragedies.” — Jean-Claude Izzo", "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": "Jean-Claude Izzo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-izzo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Nobody was speaking. Only the cicadas...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-continued-their-whine/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-izzo/nobody-was-speaking-only-the-cicadas-continued-their-whine/#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 } } ] } ```