The silence of the Quakers is their way of worship. In an essay on "The Eloquent Sounds of Silence" in Time magazine, the Indian-born author Pico Ayer wrote, "Silence is an ecumenical state, beyond the doctrines and divisions created by the mind. If everyone has a spiritual story to tell of his life, everyone has a spiritual silence preserve."
— Pico Ayer, Releasing the Creative Spirit by Dan Wakefield