--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can't bear the silent ringing in my…" description: "\"I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.\" — Jonathan Lethem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/jonathan-lethem-1403_ringing_i-can-t-bear-the-silent-ringing-in-my-sk_2070946.png" --- # I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull. ![“I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/jonathan-lethem-1403_ringing_i-can-t-bear-the-silent-ringing-in-my-sk_2070946.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/jonathan-lethem-1403_ringing_i-can-t-bear-the-silent-ringing-in-my-sk_2070946.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/jonathan-lethem-1403_ringing_i-can-t-bear-the-silent-ringing-in-my-sk_2070946.png) > “I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The relentless inner noise can be overwhelming, indicating mental strain or existential dread. **In simple terms:** Inner turmoil can be deafening. Key Takeaway Seek quiet or professional help. Themes mental health stress existentialism Mood reflective concerned Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - mindfulness practice - creative writing - medical evaluation Key Concepts psychology of anxiety neuroscience of perception Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your mental noise? - What practices calm your mind? A Different Perspective Silence may not resolve underlying issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bear Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bear-silent-3433475/) [Ringing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ringing/) [Ringing Skull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ringing-skull-3997521/) [Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silent/) [Silent Ringing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silent-ringing-3997520/) ## Related quotes > [“He glares at me as if he already hates it. “What is it?” I consider lying but what’s the point? I clear my throat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-ee/he-glares-at-me-as-if-he-already-hates-it-what-is-it-i-consider-lying/) [Susan Ee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-ee/) > [“Laugh now, and laugh hard. For laughter is the bell. And when it rings, it cleanses the air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/laugh-now-and-laugh-hard-for-laughter-is-the-bell-and-when-it-rings/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [My first job was in pantomime; I was a chorus girl in 'Dick Whittington' at 16. I got the part by ringing the director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-imrie/my-first-job-was-in-pantomime-i-was-a-chorus-girl-in-dick-whittington/) [Celia Imrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-imrie/) > [“Since my phone ain't ringin' I assume it still ain't you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-travis/since-my-phone-ain-t-ringin-i-assume-it-still-ain-t-you/) [Randy Travis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-travis/) > [As a little boy, I apparently had a predilection for undoing latch gates, running up pathways and ringing doorbells - and then running off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-frame/as-a-little-boy-i-apparently-had-a-predilection-for-undoing-latch/) [Ronald Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-frame/) > [I don't know about other writers, but for myself, to write I must be relatively quiet - it's very difficult to write with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-charles/i-don-t-know-about-other-writers-but-for-myself-to-write-i-must-be/) [Ray Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-charles/) > [After 'Veer' failed to set the cash registers ringing, I was written off. 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The wild, distant ringing of the fire bells woke George Hazard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-house-burned-an-hour-before-midnight-on-the-last-day-of-april-the/) [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) > [“Your name still rings a bell when you say something good, not by causing catastrophe in a bid to sound more interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/your-name-still-rings-a-bell-when-you-say-something-good-not-by/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [My bones are ringing the way sometimes people say their ears are ringing, I'm so tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/my-bones-are-ringing-the-way-sometimes-people-say-their-ears-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [I knew Quintessentially was a success when my father, who does a lot of business in Beirut, introduced himself to somebody and they said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-elliot/i-knew-quintessentially-was-a-success-when-my-father-who-does-a-lot/) [Ben Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-elliot/) > [I was chased by the press and the doorbell used to keep ringing throughout the night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-llewellyn/i-was-chased-by-the-press-and-the-doorbell-used-to-keep-ringing/) [Roddy Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-llewellyn/) > [Doctor, I have a ringing in my ears." "Don't answer!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/doctor-i-have-a-ringing-in-my-ears-don-t-answer/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [I remember the noise of the bells ringing at school as the effigy of Guy Fawkes we'd prepared earlier was carried out on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pippa-middleton/i-remember-the-noise-of-the-bells-ringing-at-school-as-the-effigy-of/) [Pippa Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pippa-middleton/) > [I don't want a door bell. I don't want anyone ringing my door bell... seems to be intrusive. They can call me on their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/i-don-t-want-a-door-bell-i-don-t-want-anyone-ringing-my-door-bell/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) ## More by Jonathan Lethem > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-ve-been-an-advocate-against-the-view-of-the-writer-as-a-partitioned/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/my-heart-to-put-it-more-simply-got-nostalgic-for-the-present-always-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [It's impossible to overstate how my relationship to music forms a preserve for the esoteric or even spiritual aspect of my relationship to cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-s-impossible-to-overstate-how-my-relationship-to-music-forms-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“If. If Mingus Rude could be kept in this place, kept somehow in Dylan's pocket, in his stinging, smudgy hands, then summer wouldn't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/if-if-mingus-rude-could-be-kept-in-this-place-kept-somehow-in-dylan-s/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was read in multiple contexts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-had-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-who-confused-genre-boundaries-and/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Memory is a rehearsal for a show that never goes on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/memory-is-a-rehearsal-for-a-show-that-never-goes-on/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“There is nothing Tourettic about the New York City subways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/there-is-nothing-tourettic-about-the-new-york-city-subways/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Mingus Rude, Arthur Lomb, Gabriel Stern and Tim Vandertooth, even Aaron K. Doily: Dylan never met anyone who wasn't about to change immediately into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/mingus-rude-arthur-lomb-gabriel-stern-and-tim-vandertooth-even-aaron/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I try to write every day. I don't beat myself up about word counts, or how many hours are ticking by on the clock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-try-to-write-every-day-i-don-t-beat-myself-up-about-word-counts-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Enough of this. Does every conversation with you have to be the director's cut? Get out of the car.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/enough-of-this-does-every-conversation-with-you-have-to-be-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“The stumbling block will turn out to be the traditional one for students of consciousness: the flashlight is incapable of shining on itself, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-stumbling-block-will-turn-out-to-be-the-traditional-one-for/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“May one plead, Your Honor, postmodernism as an involuntary condition?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/may-one-plead-your-honor-postmodernism-as-an-involuntary-condition/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) [Explore all 241 Jonathan Lethem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## More Ringing quotes > [“Laugh now, and laugh hard. For laughter is the bell. And when it rings, it cleanses the air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/laugh-now-and-laugh-hard-for-laughter-is-the-bell-and-when-it-rings/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I remember the noise of the bells ringing at school as the effigy of Guy Fawkes we'd prepared earlier was carried out on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pippa-middleton/i-remember-the-noise-of-the-bells-ringing-at-school-as-the-effigy-of/) [Pippa Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pippa-middleton/) > [Doctor, I have a ringing in my ears." "Don't answer!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/doctor-i-have-a-ringing-in-my-ears-don-t-answer/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [I was chased by the press and the doorbell used to keep ringing throughout the night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-llewellyn/i-was-chased-by-the-press-and-the-doorbell-used-to-keep-ringing/) [Roddy Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-llewellyn/) > [I knew Quintessentially was a success when my father, who does a lot of business in Beirut, introduced himself to somebody and they said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-elliot/i-knew-quintessentially-was-a-success-when-my-father-who-does-a-lot/) [Ben Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-elliot/) > [My bones are ringing the way sometimes people say their ears are ringing, I'm so tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/my-bones-are-ringing-the-way-sometimes-people-say-their-ears-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Your name still rings a bell when you say something good, not by causing catastrophe in a bid to sound more interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/your-name-still-rings-a-bell-when-you-say-something-good-not-by/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The house burned an hour before midnight on the last day of April. The wild, distant ringing of the fire bells woke George Hazard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-house-burned-an-hour-before-midnight-on-the-last-day-of-april-the/) [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) > [After 'Veer' failed to set the cash registers ringing, I was written off. I was severely criticized for my weight. But, I took it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zareen-khan/after-veer-failed-to-set-the-cash-registers-ringing-i-was-written-off/) [Zareen Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zareen-khan/) > [I don't know about other writers, but for myself, to write I must be relatively quiet - it's very difficult to write with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-charles/i-don-t-know-about-other-writers-but-for-myself-to-write-i-must-be/) [Ray Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-charles/) > [As a little boy, I apparently had a predilection for undoing latch gates, running up pathways and ringing doorbells - and then running off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-frame/as-a-little-boy-i-apparently-had-a-predilection-for-undoing-latch/) [Ronald Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-frame/) > [“Since my phone ain't ringin' I assume it still ain't you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-travis/since-my-phone-ain-t-ringin-i-assume-it-still-ain-t-you/) [Randy Travis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-travis/) > [My first job was in pantomime; I was a chorus girl in 'Dick Whittington' at 16. I got the part by ringing the director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-imrie/my-first-job-was-in-pantomime-i-was-a-chorus-girl-in-dick-whittington/) [Celia Imrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-imrie/) > [I don't want a door bell. I don't want anyone ringing my door bell... seems to be intrusive. 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