Silence, a Place for the Priceless

Silence provides a safeguard against the abuse of technology. (Eva Pruchova/Shutterstock)

Is silence just the absence of sound, of speech, just as some thinkers say that evil is just the absence of good?

Actually, silence may open up unexpected horizons filled with heights too high to ever climb to the top of, and depths too deep to ever wholly fathom.

More Than an Absence

“Silence is never more audible than when the last sound of music has died away.” This is the signature line from philosopher Max Picard’s writings on the nature of silence. After encountering it, one can never think of silence as just an absence again.

Max Picard wrote about many things, and many things about silence, but the book in which he focused on this phenomenon is “The World of Silence,” published in 1948; it was the work of a Swiss Jew in a Europe still stunned into silence by the horrors of World War II.

While his writings are elusive and hard to understand at times, we can find several practical implications. In fact, it is sometimes extremely sensible to deal with elusive and hard-to-grasp topics such as silence.

"Silence" by Swiss philosopher Max Picard gives practical implications for silence. (Eighth Day Press)

A Subject for Wonder, Humility, and Speech Itself

Thinking about silence is an extremely practical thing to do, though of course it doesn’t result in making more money or becoming more powerful. If we don’t take the time to ponder it, we won’t become aware of a large gap in our understanding, and we will be deprived of an opportunity for both wonder and humility. And if we lack wonder and humility, we will not see the world as it truly is—and if we don’t see the world as it truly is, we will ultimately fail as human beings.

And if we fail as human beings, we are doing the most impractical thing possible.

Silence is also related to speech itself. Far from being an enemy of conversation and language, Picard sees silence as vitally important to them. If he’s right, then those who value words should also pay attention to silence.

One example of his examination of silence and language sounds cryptic: “When two people are conversing with one another ... a third is always present: Silence is listening.” This observation draws attention to a phenomenon that exists only between great friends or old married couples who truly love each other and lapse into long silences; it is clear that these silences do not detract from, but rather are an integral part of, the deep communication they share.

Then, there’s Picard’s thesis that “speech came out of silence”—that real human speech in some way needs silence as its ”ground.” This phrase presents another difficult idea, but we can start to see how it’s true when we consider how fruitful silence has been in our own lives.

At times, exciting new words and thoughts erupt from those moments when we, often unwillingly, sit quietly or hold our peace. When I reluctantly practice silent prayer in the morning, a list comes to mind of so many things to do: make coffee, start the fire, plan the day, help with the baby! But during that time comes some of my best ideas for my duties as a teacher.

This is just a small example of how we sometimes must throw away the checklist of life and just be quiet, in order to live again, work again, and speak again.

Silence and a Critique of Technology

Especially relevant today is Picard’s discussion of technology, silence, and their relationship. For instance, in his critique of the radio, he says: “The knowledge that radio transmits seems to have been completed once and for all.” This statement may first seem too abstract or too absolute, until we think of how technology is exploited today.

Isn’t it the attitude of many prominent media outlets that their reporting decides whether something is a fact or not, whether something is up for debate or not, whether the conversation is closed or not?

"Silence" 1898, by Fernand Khnopff. (Public Domain)

Silence provides a safeguard against this sort of abuse of technology. But more importantly, it safeguards the world of ultimate value and of priceless things like human beings. As Picard puts it, silence “stands outside the world of profit and utility; it cannot be exploited for profit; you cannot get anything out of it. It is ‘unproductive.’”

The Gift of Silence

It follows that if we value silence, then we are saying that it is important to just be with our family and friends, even if we are not talking, eating, or entertaining ourselves. To make room for silence is to make a space for paying attention to other things instead of always taking care of ourselves.

Recognizing and enjoying silence is a way of saying that things are valuable even when they are not producing value.

While reading Picard’s work may enhance our understanding of this critically important gift of silence, his work also makes clear that the most important thing is to notice silence right now and to let that silence speak, however strange that sounds.