--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Silence is sometimes more significant and…" description: "\"Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the most noble and most expressive eloquence, and is on many occasions the indication of a great..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png" --- # Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the… ![“Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the most noble and most expressive eloquence, and is on many occasions the indication of a great mind.” quote by Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png) > “Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the most noble and most expressive eloquence, and is on many occasions the indication of a great mind.” [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Silence can reveal depth of thought more than elaborate speech. **In simple terms:** Quiet often shows intelligence better than words. Key Takeaway Value listening and thoughtful pauses. Themes communication wisdom reflection Mood thoughtful calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - negotiations - public speaking - personal relationships Key Concepts Rhetoric cognitive psychology Questions to Reflect On - When does silence speak louder than words? - How can you use silence strategically? A Different Perspective Silence may be misinterpreted as disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eloquence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquence/) [Great minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-minds/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble/) [Occasions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occasions/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Sublime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime/) ## Related quotes > [Let it not be a beautiful face,' I thought, 'but to make up for that, let it be a noble, an expressive, and, above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/let-it-not-be-a-beautiful-face-i-thought-but-to-make-up-for-that-let/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“Great minds talk about ideas; small minds talk about people”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/great-minds-talk-about-ideas-small-minds-talk-about-people/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Could the one whom Christians worship be merely a mythological creation, or is he real? These questions have exercised many great minds and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clayton/could-the-one-whom-christians-worship-be-merely-a-mythological/) [John Clayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clayton/) > [Managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-collins/managing-your-problems-can-only-make-you-good-whereas-building-your/) [James C. Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-collins/) > [A great mind will neither give an affront nor bear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-home-lord-kames/a-great-mind-will-neither-give-an-affront-nor-bear-it/) [Henry Home, Lord Kames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-home-lord-kames/) > [When you put two great minds, great things can happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-parsons/when-you-put-two-great-minds-great-things-can-happen/) [Micah Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-parsons/) > [If Uber wants to catch up to Google and be the leader in autonomy, we have to have the best minds. We have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-kalanick/if-uber-wants-to-catch-up-to-google-and-be-the-leader-in-autonomy-we/) [Travis Kalanick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-kalanick/) > [The sciences of today are business enterprises run on business principles. 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The calm and balanced mind is the strong and great mind; the hurried and agitated mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/remember-that-poise-and-power-are-inseparably-associated-the-calm-and/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [Great minds think alike because a greater Mind is thinking through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/great-minds-think-alike-because-a-greater-mind-is-thinking-through/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [College is such a unique time because you're learning a little bit how to be an adult. You're learning how to take care of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/college-is-such-a-unique-time-because-you-re-learning-a-little-bit/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [It is thus hardly surprising that so many of the great minds in recent history have concerned themselves with economic matters. Indeed, they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-zane-pilzer/it-is-thus-hardly-surprising-that-so-many-of-the-great-minds-in/) [Paul Zane Pilzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-zane-pilzer/) > [The power of duly appreciating little things belongs to a great mind...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/the-power-of-duly-appreciating-little-things-belongs-to-a-great-mind/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) ## More by Joseph Addison > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is nothing touches our imagination so much as a beautiful woman in a plain dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-nothing-touches-our-imagination-so-much-as-a-beautiful-woman/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [We are always doing something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/we-are-always-doing-something-for-posterity-but-i-would-fain-see/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Female Virtues are of a Domestick turn. The Family is the proper Province for Private Women to Shine in. If they must be showing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/female-virtues-are-of-a-domestick-turn-the-family-is-the-proper/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [As addictions go, reading is among the cleanest, easiest to feed, happiest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/as-addictions-go-reading-is-among-the-cleanest-easiest-to-feed/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [When love once pleads admission to our hearts, In spite of all the virtue we can boast, The woman that deliberates is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/when-love-once-pleads-admission-to-our-hearts-in-spite-of-all-the/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Many actions calculated to procure fame are not conducive to ultimate happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/many-actions-calculated-to-procure-fame-are-not-conducive-to-ultimate/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/t-is-liberty-crowns-britannia-s-isle-and-makes-her-barren-rocks-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/reading-is-a-basic-tool-in-the-living-of-a-good-life/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The moral perfections of the Deity, the more attentively, we consider, the more perfectly still shall we know them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-moral-perfections-of-the-deity-the-more-attentively-we-consider/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The utmost we can hope for in this world is contentment; if we aim at anything higher, we shall meet with nothing but grief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-we-can-hope-for-in-this-world-is-contentment-if-we-aim-at/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/courage-that-grows-from-constitution-often-forsakes-a-man-when-he-has/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The most skillful flattery is to let a person talk on, and be a listener.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-most-skillful-flattery-is-to-let-a-person-talk-on-and-be-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) [Explore all 620 Joseph Addison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## More Eloquence quotes > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/drudgery-calamity-exasperation-want-are-instructors-in-eloquence-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/among-all-the-valuable-things-of-this-world-the-word-is-the-most/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“Your goodness must have some edge to it -- else it is none.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/your-goodness-must-have-some-edge-to-it-else-it-is-none/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“What is called eloquence in the forum is commonly found to be rhetoric in the study.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-is-called-eloquence-in-the-forum-is-commonly-found-to-be/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Eloquence is the appropriate organ of the highest personal energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/eloquence-is-the-appropriate-organ-of-the-highest-personal-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Philosophy may be dodged, eloquence cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-quinet/philosophy-may-be-dodged-eloquence-cannot/) [Edgar Quinet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-quinet/) > [Eloquence is a painting of thought; and thus those who, after having painted it, add something more, make a picture instead of a portrait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/eloquence-is-a-painting-of-thought-and-thus-those-who-after-having/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics - the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-notion-of-directing-a-film-is-the-invention-of-critics-the-whole/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/your-eloquence-should-be-the-servant-of-the-ideas-in-your-head-your/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Eloquence is relative. One can no more pronounce on the eloquence of any composition than the wholesomeness of a medicine, without knowing for whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/eloquence-is-relative-one-can-no-more-pronounce-on-the-eloquence-of/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [ It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur\] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-is-true-that-despite-occasional-gleams-of-churchillian-eloquence/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) [Browse all 439 Eloquence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the most noble and most expressive eloquence, and is on many occasions the indication of a great mind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Addison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-and-sublime-than-the-most-noble/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eloquence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-and-sublime-than-the-most-noble/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/joseph-addison-377_eloquence_silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-an_1614495.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the most noble and most expressive eloquence, and is…” — Joseph Addison", "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": "Joseph Addison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Silence is sometimes more significant and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-and-sublime-than-the-most-noble/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/silence-is-sometimes-more-significant-and-sublime-than-the-most-noble/#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 } } ] } ```