It is Better to Remain Silent and to be than to Speak and not to Exist (Philosophical and Meditative Remarks on Silence)

Abstract

The article presents the role of silence in European culture in the context of common parlance. The following forms of silence have been distinguished: amorous, treacherous, political, and the silence of faith. It proves that silence remains an indispensable element in man’s recognizing of his place in the world. Therefore it should be treated as an act of liberation. Unfortunately, nowadays people do not try to use the gift of silence also in the religious sense, although God, whom we can reach, spoke and still speaks through his eternal world – Truth and no futile post-modern fortune-telling will dissuade us from the indicated hope.