--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is…" description: "\"“To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. It is to howl noiselessly.”\" — Terry Tempest Williams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/terry-tempest-williams-835_howl_to-write-marguerite-duras-remarked-is-al_2822520.png" --- # To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to… ![“To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. It is to howl noiselessly.” quote by Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/terry-tempest-williams-835_howl_to-write-marguerite-duras-remarked-is-al_2822520.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/terry-tempest-williams-835_howl_to-write-marguerite-duras-remarked-is-al_2822520.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/terry-tempest-williams-835_howl_to-write-marguerite-duras-remarked-is-al_2822520.png) > ““To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. It is to howl noiselessly.”” [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is a form of silent protest, expressing deep, unvoiced emotions. **In simple terms:** Writing is silent, powerful expression. Key Takeaway Use writing to convey unspoken truths. Themes expression silence protest Mood poetic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - poetry - activism Key Concepts literary theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does silence amplify a message? - When is speaking louder than writing? A Different Perspective Silence can be misinterpreted as passivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) ## Related quotes > [“It is winter. Ravens are standing on a pile of bones -- black typeface on white paper picking an idea clean. It’s what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/it-is-winter-ravens-are-standing-on-a-pile-of-bones-black-typeface-on/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [We have drugs to make women speak, but none to keep them silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/we-have-drugs-to-make-women-speak-but-none-to-keep-them-silent/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [We need a reason to speak but none to keep silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-nicole/we-need-a-reason-to-speak-but-none-to-keep-silent/) Pierre Nicole > [Indeed, I still read a fair amount of French literature and I am very attracted to the emotional depth and simplicity of writers such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-drinkwater/indeed-i-still-read-a-fair-amount-of-french-literature-and-i-am-very/) [Carol Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-drinkwater/) > [The French are pretty thin-skinned. The few times I mentioned a French writer in 'City Boy,' the relatives would ring up in high dudgeon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/the-french-are-pretty-thin-skinned-the-few-times-i-mentioned-a-french/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [“Sometimes we have to avoid thinking about the problems life presents. Otherwise we'd suffocate." - Hiroshima Mon Amour, Marguerite Duras”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/sometimes-we-have-to-avoid-thinking-about-the-problems-life-presents/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [As a journalist, I never isolated myself. I was a journalist at a daily newspaper and every day I went out on the street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-teresa-horta/as-a-journalist-i-never-isolated-myself-i-was-a-journalist-at-a-daily/) [Maria Teresa Horta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-teresa-horta/) > [I am not a great French woman. George Sand, Marguerite Duras and Simone de Beauvoir are great French women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-binoche/i-am-not-a-great-french-woman-george-sand-marguerite-duras-and-simone/) [Juliette Binoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-binoche/) > [Marguerite Duras was a very good friend of mine and an intellectual hero. She was also a sort of mother figure. Of course she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-denis/marguerite-duras-was-a-very-good-friend-of-mine-and-an-intellectual/) [Claire Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-denis/) > [I can tell that the Greater Yellowstone from the Tetons, to the Lamar Valley where wolves howl and grizzlies roam, acts as my spine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-can-tell-that-the-greater-yellowstone-from-the-tetons-to-the-lamar/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [We can try to kill all that is native, string it up by its hind legs for all to see, but spirit howls and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/we-can-try-to-kill-all-that-is-native-string-it-up-by-its-hind-legs/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“Only he who knows how to speak can be silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/only-he-who-knows-how-to-speak-can-be-silent/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Wittgenstein likes to assert: "Whereof we cannot speak we must be silent". But skilfully using our hands and manipulating our thoughts can be plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/wittgenstein-likes-to-assert-whereof-we-cannot-speak-we-must-be/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [I try to be as honest about what I see and to speak rather than be silent, especially if it means I can save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-try-to-be-as-honest-about-what-i-see-and-to-speak-rather-than-be/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [Where of one cannot speak, there of one must be silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/where-of-one-cannot-speak-there-of-one-must-be-silent/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Terry Tempest Williams > [I admire how she protects her energy and understands her limitations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-admire-how-she-protects-her-energy-and-understands-her-limitations/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [Buddha says there are two kinds of suffering: the kind that leads to more suffering and the kind that brings an end to suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/buddha-says-there-are-two-kinds-of-suffering-the-kind-that-leads-to/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I wonder how, among the Fremont, mothers and daughters shared their world. Did they walk side by side along the lake edge? What stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-wonder-how-among-the-fremont-mothers-and-daughters-shared-their/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I believe the personal is the collective. One of the ironies of writing memoir is in using the "I" it becomes an alchemical "we."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-believe-the-personal-is-the-collective-one-of-the-ironies-of/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“I write to discover. I write to uncover. I write to meet my ghosts... I write because it is dangerous, a bloody risk, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-write-to-discover-i-write-to-uncover-i-write-to-meet-my-ghosts-i/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“I write to make peace with the things I cannot control. I write to create red in a world that often appears black and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-write-to-make-peace-with-the-things-i-cannot-control-i-write-to/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [Hope is not attached to outcomes but is a state of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/hope-is-not-attached-to-outcomes-but-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I have spoken about what we can do as citizens, what we can do as a responsive citizenry, and this is where we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-have-spoken-about-what-we-can-do-as-citizens-what-we-can-do-as-a/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [The moment Eve bit into the apple, her eyes opened and she became free. She exposed the truth of what every woman knows: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/the-moment-eve-bit-into-the-apple-her-eyes-opened-and-she-became-free/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I accept the Organic Trinity of Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal with as much authority as I accept the Holy Trinity. Both are sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-accept-the-organic-trinity-of-mineral-vegetable-and-animal-with-as/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [Good writing must stay open to the questions and not fall prey to the pull of a polemic, otherwise, words simply become predictable, sentimental,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/good-writing-must-stay-open-to-the-questions-and-not-fall-prey-to-the/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“I believe we must do things in our lives for the right reasons, because we enjoy doing them, with no expectation of getting something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-believe-we-must-do-things-in-our-lives-for-the-right-reasons/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [A mother and daughter are an edge. Edges are ecotones, transitional zones, places of danger or opportunity. House-dwelling tension. When I stand on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/a-mother-and-daughter-are-an-edge-edges-are-ecotones-transitional/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“To be read. To be heard. To be seen. I want to be read, I want to be heard. I don't need to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/to-be-read-to-be-heard-to-be-seen-i-want-to-be-read-i-want-to-be/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [The Eyes of the Future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/the-eyes-of-the-future-are-looking-back-at-us-and-they-are-praying/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) [Explore all 357 Terry Tempest Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) ## More Howl quotes > [“Sophie and Howl were living - somewhat quarrelsomely it must be confessed, although they were said to be happiest that way - in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/sophie-and-howl-were-living-somewhat-quarrelsomely-it-must-be/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [How did you learn to drive like that?" Gwen yelled over the howl of six hundred horses. "Watching Jacks." She gunned the engine and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-speer/how-did-you-learn-to-drive-like-that-gwen-yelled-over-the-howl-of-six/) [Scott Speer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-speer/) > [“Another howl broke from the tent downstream, this one sounding more like pieces of metal being violined against each other than an issue from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-powers/another-howl-broke-from-the-tent-downstream-this-one-sounding-more/) [Tim Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-powers/) > [“I'm with you in Rockland in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-m-with-you-in-rockland-in-my-dreams-you-walk-dripping-from-a-sea/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Hearing wulfen howl is... well, it's horrible. The sound is glassy, hovering at the upper ranges of hearing, and it's full of paws on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilith-saintcrow/hearing-wulfen-howl-is-well-it-s-horrible-the-sound-is-glassy/) [Lilith Saintcrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilith-saintcrow/) > [Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. I am tempted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-friedman/galvanized-people-can-do-careless-things-it-is-in-the-extreme-and/) [George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-friedman/) > [Blood fills my mouth. Fire sears my veins. I choke back a howl. The silver knife slips--the choice is mine. I am death or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-despain/blood-fills-my-mouth-fire-sears-my-veins-i-choke-back-a-howl-the/) [Bree Despain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-despain/) > [I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the monkey mind. The thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-am-burdened-with-what-the-buddhists-call-the-monkey-mind-the/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/generally-speaking-a-howling-wilderness-does-not-howl-it-is-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I respect a person that has had to fight and howl for his decency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-respect-a-person-that-has-had-to-fight-and-howl-for-his-decency/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“Me, Tarzan. You, Jane. I kill bad guy. Beat chest. Tarzan howl.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-rowe/me-tarzan-you-jane-i-kill-bad-guy-beat-chest-tarzan-howl/) [Stephanie Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-rowe/) > [Guess what it is that turns plants to coal. Pressure. Guess what it is that turns limestone to marble. Pressure. Guess what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-billingsley/guess-what-it-is-that-turns-plants-to-coal-pressure-guess-what-it-is/) [Franny Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-billingsley/) > [We danced too wild, and we sang too long, and we hugged too hard, and we kissed too sweet, and howled just as loud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-cleage/we-danced-too-wild-and-we-sang-too-long-and-we-hugged-too-hard-and-we/) [Pearl Cleage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-cleage/) > [Oh, love will make a dog howl in rhyme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-beaumont/oh-love-will-make-a-dog-howl-in-rhyme/) [Francis Beaumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-beaumont/) > [“Not likely!” Howl yelled. “I’m a coward. Only way I can do something this frightening is to tell my self I’m not doing it!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/not-likely-howl-yelled-i-m-a-coward-only-way-i-can-do-something-this/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) Browse all 269 Howl quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. 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