--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So I marshalled the words and opened my…" description: "\"“So I marshalled the words and opened my mouth, thinking I would hear them. But all I heard was a kind of rattle, unintelligible even to me who knew wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d3/samuel-beckett-365_long-silence_so-i-marshalled-the-words-and-opened-my_3031939.png" --- # So I marshalled the words and opened my mouth, thinking I… ![“So I marshalled the words and opened my mouth, thinking I would hear them. But all I heard was a kind of rattle, unintelligible even to me who knew what was intended. But it was nothing, mere speechlessness due to long silence, as in the wood that darkens the mouth of hell, do you remember, I only…” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d3/samuel-beckett-365_long-silence_so-i-marshalled-the-words-and-opened-my_3031939.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d3/samuel-beckett-365_long-silence_so-i-marshalled-the-words-and-opened-my_3031939.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d3/samuel-beckett-365_long-silence_so-i-marshalled-the-words-and-opened-my_3031939.png) > ““So I marshalled the words and opened my mouth, thinking I would hear them. But all I heard was a kind of rattle, unintelligible even to me who knew what was intended. But it was nothing, mere speechlessness due to long silence, as in the wood that darkens the mouth of hell, do you remember, I only just.”” [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 narrator attempts to speak but encounters silence, reflecting on the futility of words after prolonged quiet. **In simple terms:** He struggles to find meaning in speech after silence. Key Takeaway Accept silence as part of communication. Themes silence communication existentialism Mood introspective melancholic Type theatrical philosophical When to use this quote - theater performances - writing retreats - mindfulness practice Key Concepts philosophy language psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does silence shape your thoughts? - When do words become unnecessary? A Different Perspective Silence may be misinterpreted as lack of insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Long silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-silence/) [Mere Speechlessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere-speechlessness-4957148/) [Opened Mouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opened-mouth/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Speechlessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speechlessness-372944/) [Speechlessness Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speechlessness-long-4957147/) [Unintelligible Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unintelligible-knew-4957149/) ## Related quotes > [I marshalled the words and opened my mouth, thinking I would hear them. But all I heard was a kind of rattle, unintelligible even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-marshalled-the-words-and-opened-my-mouth-thinking-i-would-hear-them/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I believe that the silence of God, the absolute speechlessness of Him is a long, long, and awful thing that the whole world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-believe-that-the-silence-of-god-the-absolute-speechlessness-of-him/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [The Times is speechless, and takes three columns to express its speechlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-times-is-speechless-and-takes-three-columns-to-express-its/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [He was struck dumb at the words though he should not be surprised; his wife kept him in a perpetual state of speechlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/he-was-struck-dumb-at-the-words-though-he-should-not-be-surprised-his/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [“All writing is a sin against speechlessness,’ Beckett had said. He would have stopped, I thought, if he could.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-parks/all-writing-is-a-sin-against-speechlessness-beckett-had-said-he-would/) [Tim Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-parks/) > [The first thing I remember feeling about the 2016 U.S. election was a kind of speechlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-dean/the-first-thing-i-remember-feeling-about-the-2016-u-s-election-was-a/) [Michelle Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-dean/) > [Music is a bird's answer to the noise and heaviness of words. It puts the mind in a state of exhilarated speechlessness. ..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/music-is-a-bird-s-answer-to-the-noise-and-heaviness-of-words-it-puts/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [The traits of our sexual culture are still speechlessness, loneliness, violence and not enough desire and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/volkmar-sigusch/the-traits-of-our-sexual-culture-are-still-speechlessness-loneliness/) [Volkmar Sigusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/volkmar-sigusch/) > [“In the last fifteen minutes, she’d knocked him flat on his back, reduced him to speechlessness, and for the first time in his life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-payne/in-the-last-fifteen-minutes-she-d-knocked-him-flat-on-his-back/) [Angel Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-payne/) > [Speechlessness can speak in such volumes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aly-johnson/speechlessness-can-speak-in-such-volumes/) [Aly Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aly-johnson/) > [She opened her mouth but did not immediately speak, and I felt, simultaneously, the impulse to coax the words from her and the impulse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/she-opened-her-mouth-but-did-not-immediately-speak-and-i-felt/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [Man, every time Kelly opened her mouth she gave me chills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-jackson/man-every-time-kelly-opened-her-mouth-she-gave-me-chills/) [Randy Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-jackson/) > [ “\[T.J.\] Without thinking, I held them out to her. She stopped laughing, and looked at me like she wasn't quite sure what I meant.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-garvis-graves/t-j-without-thinking-i-held-them-out-to-her-she-stopped-laughing-and/) [Tracey Garvis-Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-garvis-graves/) > [“I opened my mouth to ask him what our excursion meant to him. Then I wondered if I really wanted to know, because once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-perry/i-opened-my-mouth-to-ask-him-what-our-excursion-meant-to-him-then-i/) [Kate Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-perry/) > [“still feel the same way? Could he have changed this much on the inside too? Struggling for the right words, I opened my mouth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-wild/still-feel-the-same-way-could-he-have-changed-this-much-on-the-inside/) [Meredith Wild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-wild/) ## 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. Here he sat. Here he knelt. Here he lay. Here he moved, to and fro, from the door to the window,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/here-he-stood-here-he-sat-here-he-knelt-here-he-lay-here-he-moved-to/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-shall-state-silences-more-competently-than-ever-a-better-man/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. 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. 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