After one has been in a lowly position, one knows how dangerous it is to climb to a high place, Once one has been in the dark, one knows how revealing it is to go into the light. Having maintained quietude, one knows how tiring compulsive activity is. Having nurtured silence, one knows how disturbing much talk is.
Even the great scientists have reported that their creative break-throughs came at a time of mental quietude. The surprising result of a nationwide inquiry among America's most eminent mathematicians, including Einstein, to find out their working methods, was that thinking 'plays only a subordinate part in the brief, decisive phase of the creative act itself'.
The activity of the young is like that of railcars in motion--they tear along with noise and turmoil, and leave peace behind them. The quietest nooks, invaded by them, lose their quietude as they pass, and recover it only on their departure.
Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.
Inside that quietude there was the firmest of wills. [Bill Shawn] knew exactly what he wanted to do.
I have need to busy my heart with quietude.
Withdraw to the untroubled quietude deep within the soul, and refresh yourself.
All sense of hearing and of sight enfold in the serene delight and quietude of sleep.
I never understood the need for a "live" audience. My music, because of its extreme quietude, would be happiest with a dead one.
