Jane Hirshfield Quotes

The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence.

Silence has sometimes a remarkable power of showing itself as the disembodied soul of feeling wandering without its carcase, and it is then more impressive than speech.

There are times in life when language fails us, when everything that needs to be said can be expressed only by saying nothing at all.

A lot of people understand what not saying anything means, so, in effect, not saying anything is really saying a lot.

Feelings such as loneliness, longing or love are sometimes hard to put into words; maybe that's why we all love music, because it resonates with something we can't share.

It's what people don't say that is often the most revealing.

Now, Marlon and I - for some reason, even today - even today, we can't say two words to each other. We really can't talk to each other. You know, I say to him - Marlon can't talk. I mean, he'd talk to you. But he can't talk.

People are always giving you credit for really wanting to say more than you said.

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.

A small silence came between us, as precise as a picture hanging on the wall.

If a thing isn't worth saying, you sing it.

I don't want to say anything because I know I am unable to protect you from the harm that I see.

True hearts have eyes and ears, no tongues to speak; they hear and see, and sigh, and then they break.

Well, I don't have anything to say to Mr. Sneddon, you know? Nothing at all.

Don't talk - keep it in your heart.

There are accents in the eye which are not on the tongue, and more tales come from pale lips than can enter an ear. It is both the grandeur and the pain of the remoter moods that they avoid the pathway of sound.

There was a time when the music fell silent. Both within me and around me.

Let the veil of silence fall presently over what happened afterwards. Silence, too, can speak out.

I'm fascinated by the ways in which people express themselves, because their responses are often counter to what they're actually feeling. Like when they're frightened, they tend to freeze. When they're angry, it doesn't always come out as volume. There are wonderful contradictions in the way that people express their emotions.

The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence; not in silence, but restraint.

Supposedly I'm impossible to talk to. But it's honestly not me being difficult. Sometimes you just don't have a lot to say.

For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love.

Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart.

Saying nothing... sometimes says the most.

The silence was part of the story I wanted to tell.