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My work has been essentially a dialogue with death, asking him, “Why? Why?” So only death can silence me. Only death can close my lips.

— Eugène Ionesco The Paris Review interview (1984)

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Silence

More quotes by Eugène Ionesco

Perhaps there will be a morning of grace for humanity. Perhaps there will be a morning of grace for me.

The Hermit (1973)

The absence of ideology in a work does not mean an absence of ideas; on the contrary it fertilizes them.

I believe that what separates us all from one another is simply society itself, or, if you like, politics. This is what raises barriers between men, this is what creates misunderstanding.

There are now many invisible people on stage.

Stage directions in The Chairs (1952)

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.

Découvertes (1970)

All Eugène Ionesco quotes →

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To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox New Thought Pastels (1913)

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.

George Eliot

There are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence.

Benedict of Nursia

I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?

Federico Fellini I'm a Born Liar (2003)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Eugène Ionesco (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.