--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous…" description: "\"The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving.\" — John Milton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png" --- # The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro'… ![“The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving.” quote by John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png) > “The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving.” [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The oracles are portrayed as ineffective, their messages garbled and misleading, reflecting doubt in prophetic authority. **In simple terms:** Oracles give confusing, unreliable messages. Key Takeaway Question authority of vague predictions. Themes faith knowledge communication truth authority Mood skeptical reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - religious guidance - political rhetoric - media analysis Key Concepts prophecy interpretation skepticism Questions to Reflect On - What makes a source credible? - How to discern truth in ambiguous counsel? A Different Perspective Oracles may still hold symbolic value despite flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deceiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceiving/) [Dumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb/) [Dumb Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb-voice-1032252/) [Hideous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hideous/) [Oracles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oracles/) [Oracles Dumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oracles-dumb-1032250/) [Roof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roof/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) [Words Deceiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-deceiving-1444340/) ## Related quotes > [The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving. 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Its false resemblance to merit deceives men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/success-is-a-very-hideous-thing-its-false-resemblance-to-merit/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I fled, and cry'd out, Death; Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd From all her caves, and back resounded, Death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/i-fled-and-cry-d-out-death-hell-trembled-at-the-hideous-name-and-sigh/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The folly of mistaking oneself for an oracle is built right into us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-folly-of-mistaking-oneself-for-an-oracle-is-built-right-into-us/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“We have knowledge, we have the living oracles in our midst, and with all this let me say to the Latter-day Saints that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/we-have-knowledge-we-have-the-living-oracles-in-our-midst-and-with/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [We know next to nothing with any certainty about Pythagoras, except that he was not really called Pythagoras. 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Thirty years now I have labored To dredge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/perhaps-you-considered-yourself-an-oracle-mouthpiece-of-the-dead-or/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The Holy Bible is Divine oracles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-holy-bible-is-divine-oracles/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [The god, O men, seems to me to be really wise; and by his oracle to mean this, that the wisdom of this world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-god-o-men-seems-to-me-to-be-really-wise-and-by-his-oracle-to-mean/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Yet still there whispers the small voice within, Heard through Gain's silence, and o'er Glory's din; Whatever creed be taught or land be trod,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/yet-still-there-whispers-the-small-voice-within-heard-through-gain-s/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [I despise the proper constructions and cases, because I think it very unfitting that the words of the celestial oracle should be restricted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-gregory-i/i-despise-the-proper-constructions-and-cases-because-i-think-it-very/) [Pope Gregory I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-gregory-i/) > [Nero wasn't worried at all when he heard the utterance of the Delphic Oracle: "Beware the age of seventy-three." Plenty of time to enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-cavafy/nero-wasn-t-worried-at-all-when-he-heard-the-utterance-of-the-delphic/) [C.P. Cavafy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-cavafy/) > [When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that "wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal," they identified it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/when-the-lilliputians-first-saw-gulliver-s-watch-that-wonderful-kind/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) ## More by John Milton > [Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/love-quarrels-oft-in-pleasing-concord-end/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [What better can we do than prostrate fall before Him reverent, and there confess humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears watering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/what-better-can-we-do-than-prostrate-fall-before-him-reverent-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-when-night-darkens-the-streets-then-wander-forth-the-sons-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And, re-assembling our afflicted powers, consult how we may henceforth most offend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-re-assembling-our-afflicted-powers-consult-how-we-may-henceforth/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Yet hold it more humane, more heav'nly, first, By winning words to conquer willing hearts, And make persuasion do the work of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/yet-hold-it-more-humane-more-heav-nly-first-by-winning-words-to/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [O nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still; Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/o-nightingale-that-on-yon-bloomy-spray-warblest-at-eve-when-all-the/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome, still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still receivd, And understood not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-debt-immense-of-endless-gratitude-so-burthensome-still-paying/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [There is no truth sure enough to justify persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/there-is-no-truth-sure-enough-to-justify-persecution/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ Large.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/new-presbyter-is-but-old-priest-writ-large/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed-alone-without-exterior-help/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [This is servitude, To serve th'unwise, or him who hath rebelled Against his worthier, as thine now serve thee, Thyself not free, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/this-is-servitude-to-serve-th-unwise-or-him-who-hath-rebelled-against/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/let-us-seek-death-or-he-not-found-supply-with-our-own-hands-his/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [They are the troublers, they are the dividers of unity, who neglect and don't permit others to unite those dissevered pieces which are yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/they-are-the-troublers-they-are-the-dividers-of-unity-who-neglect-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) [Explore all 966 John Milton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More Deceiving quotes > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Who’s to say that it takes something like a drug to mess with your perception of reality? How did Hitler deceive a nation? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/who-s-to-say-that-it-takes-something-like-a-drug-to-mess-with-your/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Half-instructed confessors have done my soul great harm; for I could not always have such learned ones as I would have desired. They certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/half-instructed-confessors-have-done-my-soul-great-harm-for-i-could/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-intention-of-never-deceiving-often-exposes-us-to-deception/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [It is unhappily true that much insincere Literature and Art, executed solely with a view to effect, does succeed by deceiving the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/it-is-unhappily-true-that-much-insincere-literature-and-art-executed/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) > [Amusement that is excessive and followed only for its own sake, allures and deceives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/amusement-that-is-excessive-and-followed-only-for-its-own-sake/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The man was no stranger to deception, and yet his heart was pounding wildly now. He took another deep, throbbing breath. You've been deceiving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/the-man-was-no-stranger-to-deception-and-yet-his-heart-was-pounding/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [You should have taken me with you," I whisper to him. Then I lean my head against his and begin to cry. In my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/you-should-have-taken-me-with-you-i-whisper-to-him-then-i-lean-my/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [I smile but it doesn't mean that I'm okay and happy. Remember, looks can be deceiving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-smile-but-it-doesn-t-mean-that-i-m-okay-and-happy-remember-looks/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cunning grows in deceit at seeing itself discovered, and tries to deceive with truth itselft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/cunning-grows-in-deceit-at-seeing-itself-discovered-and-tries-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 704 Deceiving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceiving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Milton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous-hum-runs-thro-the-arched/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deceiving" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous-hum-runs-thro-the-arched/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/john-milton-191_deceiving_the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous_1732703.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving.” — John Milton", "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": "John Milton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The oracles are dumb, No voice...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous-hum-runs-thro-the-arched/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-oracles-are-dumb-no-voice-or-hideous-hum-runs-thro-the-arched/#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 } } ] } ```