An oppressive silence surged out of the place like a cloud. I closed the door and shut out all the little noises of the riverfront. Now there was nothing but the silence…. the silence was over me like a great bell, but the whole place throbbed with a soundless vibration which it took me a moment to recognize as the beating of my own heart… It is in silence that the human spirit touches the divine….
By Iris Murdoch
An oppressive silence surged out of the place like a cloud. I closed the door and shut out all the little noises of the riverfront. Now there was nothing but the silence…. the silence was over me like a great bell, but the whole place throbbed with a soundless vibration which it took me a moment to recognize as the beating of my own heart… It is in silence that the human spirit touches the divine….