It was a sound like someone trying not to make a sound.
Irving, John. A Widow for One Year. Random House, 1998, p. 45.
Not every truth is the better for showing its face undisguised; and often silence is the wisest thing for a man to heed.
Quiet down, we don't want to wake the Russians.
The true ninja doesn't make a splash at all.
Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.
I've always believed in having a sense of balance and stealth.
Give thy thoughts no tongue.
Without saying word to anybody, cover thy face.
Silence is worth a thousand pieces of silver.
Hide your strength, bide your time.
There is more power in telling little than in telling all.
-I'm trying to make myself invisible. -That's an odd thing to attempt.
Keep your secrets Keep your silence It is a better gift than truth
Over the years, she'd learned not to question him to closely—mostly because he wouldn't answer her.
Now listen, we need to be quiet as mice. No, quieter than that. As quiet as...as..." "Dead mice?" Reynie suggested. "Perfect," said Kate with an approving nod. "As quiet as dead mice.
You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find you.
The battle cry sort of gave you away. Try not to yell next time.
I never miss a good chance to shut up
The greatest sound in the theater is silence.
Anything I tell you is an alibi for something else." Then let's be quiet together.
A hare is not caught with a drum.
who is invisible enough to see you
A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded.
If a well-constituted individual refrains from blazoning aught amiss or calamitous in his family, a nation in the like circumstance may without reproach be equally discreet.
A maiden hath no tongue--but thought.
I don't have to tell you it goes without saying there are some things better left unsaid. I think that speaks for itself. The less said about it the better.
John Winslow Irving is an American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter.
