--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Silence remains, inescapably, a form of…" description: "\"Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/838/susan-sontag-332_communication_silence-remains-inescapably-a-form-of-sp_349929.jpg" --- # Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech. ![“Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/838/susan-sontag-332_communication_silence-remains-inescapably-a-form-of-sp_349929.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/838/susan-sontag-332_communication_silence-remains-inescapably-a-form-of-sp_349929.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/838/susan-sontag-332_communication_silence-remains-inescapably-a-form-of-sp_349929.jpg) > “Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## 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 convey meaning as powerfully as spoken words. **In simple terms:** Silence is a form of communication. Key Takeaway Listen to what is unsaid. Themes communication expression silence Mood thoughtful serious Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - interpersonal conflict - public protest - media analysis Key Concepts philosophy semiotics Questions to Reflect On - When does silence speak louder than words? - What risks does silence pose? A Different Perspective Silence may be misinterpreted or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Form Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form-speech-3234222/) [Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains/) [Remains Inescapably](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains-inescapably-3234221/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silence Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-remains-751771/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) ## Related quotes > [God is our Father and loves us, even when his silence remains incomprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/god-is-our-father-and-loves-us-even-when-his-silence-remains/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [How many people came and stayed a certain time, Uttered light or dark speech that became part of you Like light behind windblown fog…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/how-many-people-came-and-stayed-a-certain-time-uttered-light-or-dark/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“You have to create your own space which has a lot of silence in it and a lot of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/you-have-to-create-your-own-space-which-has-a-lot-of-silence-in-it/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [It occurred to me that my speech or my silence, indeed any action of mine, would be a mere futility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/it-occurred-to-me-that-my-speech-or-my-silence-indeed-any-action-of/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [As the Swiss inscription says: Sprechen ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden,- "Speech is silvern, Silence is golden;" or, as I might rather express it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-the-swiss-inscription-says-sprechen-ist-silbern-schweigen-ist/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is well, when in difficulties, to say never a word, neither black nor white. Speech is silver but silence is golden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/it-is-well-when-in-difficulties-to-say-never-a-word-neither-black-nor/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [Right speech comes out of silence and right silence comes out of speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/right-speech-comes-out-of-silence-and-right-silence-comes-out-of/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/few-people-know-how-to-take-a-walk-the-qualifications-are-endurance/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We should be sensitive to the thread of silence from which the tissue of speech is woven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/we-should-be-sensitive-to-the-thread-of-silence-from-which-the-tissue/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [Words are made of silver, but silence is made of gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portuguese-proverb/words-are-made-of-silver-but-silence-is-made-of-gold/) [Portuguese Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portuguese-proverb/) > [Silence is most powerful. Speech is always less powerful than silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/silence-is-most-powerful-speech-is-always-less-powerful-than-silence/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [I believe Saddam Hussein's strategic objective was, and remains, to assert dominance over the Gulf region.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-berger/i-believe-saddam-hussein-s-strategic-objective-was-and-remains-to/) [Sandy Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-berger/) > [Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. The biologist passes, the frog remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/le-biologiste-passe-la-grenouille-reste-the-biologist-passes-the-frog/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? 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To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. 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