Silence: A Guide to Harnessing Your Most Powerful Inner Resource Through Mindfulness Techniques, Zen Philosophy, and the Art of Embracing Quiet

by Thich Nhat Hanh

If you can be here, if you can be free, then you can be happy right here and right now.

like individual consciousness, collective consciousness can be healing—for example, when you’re with loving friends or family, or with strangers in a situation of mutual appreciation such as listening to music, seeing art, or being in nature.

When we release our ideas, thoughts, and concepts, we make space for our true mind.

When you practice noble silence, you aren’t just refraining from talking; you’re calming and quieting your thinking.

We need love in order to grow and to go far.

The next time someone asks you a question, don’t answer right away. Receive the question or sharing and let it penetrate you, so that the speaker feels that he or she has really been listened to.

if we haven’t listened deeply to ourselves, we can’t listen deeply to others.

People who are fixated on separating life from work spend the majority of their lives not living.

Without silence, we aren’t living in the present moment, and this moment is our very best chance to find happiness.

Genuine connection is possible only when you have enough mindfulness and concentration.

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction.”

Silence shared among friends can be even better than talking.