The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

The world suffers a lot. Not because the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Nothing is so aggravating as calmness.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.

Silence is pure and holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking.

No atrocity was ever committed because people were being too reasonable, too skeptical, or too independently minded.

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

There are a lot of good people, Irina, but they keep quiet about it. It’s the bad ones who make a lot of noise, and that’s why they get noticed.

La gente guardaba silencio como en presencia de un milagro; el espanto y el terror habían atado todas las lenguas.

Cautious silence is the refuge of good sense

Only the dead smiled back in those days,
Being at peace and safe from abuse.

Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better.