--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I shall state silences more competently…" description: "\"I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.\" — Samuel Beckett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/samuel-beckett-365_better-man_i-shall-state-silences-more-competently_41527.png" --- # I shall state silences more competently than ever a better… ![“I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/samuel-beckett-365_better-man_i-shall-state-silences-more-competently_41527.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/samuel-beckett-365_better-man_i-shall-state-silences-more-competently_41527.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/samuel-beckett-365_better-man_i-shall-state-silences-more-competently_41527.png) > “I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.” [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker claims superior skill at expressing the unsaid, juxtaposing this with a vivid, absurd image of a man adorned with butterflies that evoke vertigo, highlighting the tension between articulation and chaotic perception. **In simple terms:** Expressing silence versus chaotic imagery. Key Takeaway Silence can be more powerful than words. Themes existentialism absurdism communication perception contrast Mood thoughtful enigmatic reflective Type aphorism paradoxical statement When to use this quote - literary analysis - creative writing - philosophical debate - art critique - psychological introspection Key Concepts silence imagery paradox vertigo Practical Applications - writing workshops - speech therapy Questions to Reflect On - How does silence convey meaning better than speech? - What does the butterfly imagery suggest about mental states? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-man/) [Competently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competently-457533/) [Competently Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competently-better-457532/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silences/) [Silences Competently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silences-competently-457531/) [Vertigo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vertigo/) ## Related quotes > [It takes our government an awful lot of time to do most things competently, and that's part of the problem here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellyanne-conway/it-takes-our-government-an-awful-lot-of-time-to-do-most-things/) [Kellyanne Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellyanne-conway/) > [“It is not only medicine that maintains well-being. Once we function competently, the world may pitch in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-d-kramer/it-is-not-only-medicine-that-maintains-well-being-once-we-function/) [Peter D. Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-d-kramer/) > [Don't look for meaning in the words. Listen to the silences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/don-t-look-for-meaning-in-the-words-listen-to-the-silences/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I suffer from vertigo. It's paralyzing in extreme situations. The most scared I've been as an adult was trying to conquer that fear by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/i-suffer-from-vertigo-it-s-paralyzing-in-extreme-situations-the-most/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“It was vertigo. A heady, insuperable longing to fall. We might also call vertigo the intoxication of the weak. Aware of his weakness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/it-was-vertigo-a-heady-insuperable-longing-to-fall-we-might-also-call/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Having set its tonal template, Vertigo Crime laid low for a few months before starting in earnest at the beginning of 2010.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/having-set-its-tonal-template-vertigo-crime-laid-low-for-a-few-months/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [I have vertigo. Vertigo makes it feel like the floor is pitching up and down. Things seem to be spinning. It's like standing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/i-have-vertigo-vertigo-makes-it-feel-like-the-floor-is-pitching-up/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [“Only one is a wanderer. 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When the North Pole comes so close as to touch the South Pole, the earth disappears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/vertiginously-close-can-proximity-cause-vertigo-it-can-when-the-north/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [It gives me vertigo to watch TV dramas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-heller/it-gives-me-vertigo-to-watch-tv-dramas/) [Bruno Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-heller/) > [“had felt time settle over itself, imbricate and fix into place the vertigo of future aligning with the present.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/had-felt-time-settle-over-itself-imbricate-and-fix-into-place-the/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) ## More by Samuel Beckett > [“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“To be always what I am - and so changed from what I was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-be-always-what-i-am-and-so-changed-from-what-i-was/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [To what will love not stoop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-what-will-love-not-stoop/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [With all this darkness round me I feel less alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/with-all-this-darkness-round-me-i-feel-less-alone/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“You may say it is all in my head, and indeed sometimes it seems to me I am in a head and that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/you-may-say-it-is-all-in-my-head-and-indeed-sometimes-it-seems-to-me/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Here he stood. 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How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/the-new-light-above-my-table-is-a-great-improvement-with-all-this/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I lay down across her with my face in her breasts and my hand on her. We lay there without moving. But under us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-lay-down-across-her-with-my-face-in-her-breasts-and-my-hand-on-her/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“ESTRAGON: Do you think God sees me? VLADIMIR: You must close your eyes. Estragon closes his eyes, staggers worse. ESTRAGON: (stopping, brandishing his fists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/estragon-do-you-think-god-sees-me-vladimir-you-must-close-your-eyes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Deplorable mania, when something happens, to inquire what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/deplorable-mania-when-something-happens-to-inquire-what/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“We are not merely more weary because of yesterday, we are other, no longer what we were before the calamity of yesterday.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-merely-more-weary-because-of-yesterday-we-are-other-no/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) [Explore all 609 Samuel Beckett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## More Better man quotes > [If I were a boy, I think I could understand how it feels to love a girl..I swear I'll be a better man :-/](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-were-a-boy-i-think-i-could-understand-how-it-feels-to-love-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I do not think it is permitted that a better man be harmed by a worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-do-not-think-it-is-permitted-that-a-better-man-be-harmed-by-a-worse/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I should've been a better man instead of wasting my time spending my life searching for the finer things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/i-should-ve-been-a-better-man-instead-of-wasting-my-time-spending-my/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [“I think so. 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I was going to be a better man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/that-morning-lying-with-the-woman-i-loved-a-silent-promise-was-formed/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [I'm better than your next man and if you're swingin' like you're dumber than the next man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/i-m-better-than-your-next-man-and-if-you-re-swingin-like-you-re/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [He’s playing every bit as hard as I am, only he knows what he’s doing and I don’t. 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