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.