Modern humanity finds silence particularly irksome. We find it hard to sit still with ourselves. We are always itching to be up and about, to do something, to say something; we cannot act, and so most of our activity is not free, creative, dynamic as we like to think it is; it is compulsive. When you acquire the ability to sit still and be silent, you will be free to act or not, to speak or not, and then your speech and your activity will take on new depth and power.
— Anthony de Mello, Contact With God