The contradiction built into the pursuit of Silence

“It is better to be silent and be real than to talk and not be real” -- Ignatius of Antioch, an early Church father advising Christians at Ephesus

" ... the contradiction built into the pursuit of silence; the more sources of noise are stilled, the more the previously imperceptible rises to the level of perception. This was the essence of the silence that John Cage, a composer, used in several of his works, most famously “4’33”, a composition for piano that consists of three movements. At the beginning of each the pianist opens the instrument’s lid, and at the end of each he closes it. No notes are played. The piece allows an audience to attend to the sounds around them and the questions within."

from an article in The Economist, "The Power and Meaning of Silence".