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Quote by Kiera Cass

“And sometimes people don’t know whether to interpret silence as confidence or fear.”

Work

In a world where the royal family selects a new princess each year, America Singer is chosen to compete in a reality show. The competition is fierce, and America must navigate the complexities of her own feelings and the political intrigue of the royal court. more

Author

Kiera Cass

Kiera Cass is an American author known for her young adult novels. Her most famous work is the 'The Selection' series, which tells the story of a fictional beauty contest. Born in 1981, Cass's writing career began with young adult literature. Her first book, 'The Selection,' was published in 2010 and quickly became a bestseller, spawning a series of sequels. Cass's works have gained significant international success and are highly praised for their unique perspective and deep exploration of the emotional lives of teenagers. more

“Truth for anyone is a very complex thing. For a writer, what you leave out says as much as those things you include. What lies beyond the margin of the text? The photographer frames the shot; writers frame their world. Mrs Winterson objected to what I had put in, but it seemed to me that what I had left out was the story’s silent twin. There are so many things that we can’t say, because they are too painful. We hope that the things we can say will soothe the rest, or appease it in some way. Stories are compensatory. The world is unfair, unjust, unknowable, out of control. When we tell a story we exercise control, but in such a way as to leave a gap, an opening. It is a version, but never the final one. And perhaps we hope that the silences will be heard by someone else, and the story can continue, can be retold. When we write we offer the silence as much as the story. Words are the part of silence that can be spoken. Mrs Winterson would have preferred it if I had been silent. Do you remember the story of Philomel who is raped and then has her tongue ripped out by the rapist so that she can never tell? I believe in fiction and the power of stories because that way we speak in tongues. We are not silenced. All of us, when in deep trauma, find we hesitate, we stammer; there are long pauses in our speech. The thing is stuck. We get our language back through the language of others. We can turn to the poem. We can open the book. Somebody has been there for us and deep-dived the words. I needed words because unhappy families are conspiracies of silence. The one who breaks the silence is never forgiven. He or she has to learn to forgive him or herself.”

Truth Language Silence Trauma Storytelling Narrative

Book:Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Source: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

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

Silence Speech Better Carlyle

Author:Thomas Carlyle

“Silence THERE is a silence where hath been no sound, There is a silence where no sound may be, In the cold grave—under the deep, deep sea, Or in wide desert where no life is found, Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound; No voice is hush'd—no life treads silently, But clouds and cloudy shadows wander free, That never spoke, over the idle ground: But in green ruins, in the desolate walls Of antique palaces, where Man hath been, Though the dun fox or wild hyæna calls, And owls, that flit continually between, Shriek to the echo, and the low winds moan— There the true Silence is, self-conscious and alone.”

Silence

Author:Thomas Hood

“I have a sense of exile from thought, a nostalgia of the quiet room and balanced mind. I am a writer, and there comes a time when that which I write has to belong to me, has to be written alone and in silence, with no one looking over my shoulder, no one telling me a better way to write it. It doesn't have to be great writing, it doesn't even have to be terribly good. It just has to be mine.”

Inspirational Writing Silence Ownership