Not being heard is no reason for silence.
[N’être pas écouté, ce n’est pas une raison pour se taire.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 8 “Cemeteries Take What is Given Them,” ch. 1 (2.8.1) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Not to be heard is no reason why a man should hold his tongue.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]That one is not listened to is no reason for preserving silence.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]Not being heard is no reason for silence.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]Not being listened to is no reason to stop talking.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Quotations about:
silent
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Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) American poet
(Attributed)
We can sit in our corners, mute forever, while our sisters and ourselves are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned. We can sit silently in our corners, mute as bottles, and we will still be no less afraid.
Audre Lorde (1934-1992) American writer, feminist, civil rights activist
“The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” The Cancer Journals (1980)
(Source)
Originally given as a speech at the Modern Language Association meeting (28 Dec 1977).
Men repent speaking ten times, for once that they repent keeping silence.
James Burgh (1714-1775) British politician and writer
The Dignity of Human Nature, Sec. 5 “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Prudence in Conversation” (1754)
(Source)
