The Silence of the Night

I wish to hear the silence of the night, for the silence is something positive to be heard. I cannot walk with my ears covered. I must stand still and listen with open ears, far from the noises of the village, that the night may make its impression on me. A fertile and eloquent silence. Sometimes the silence is merely negative, an arid and barren waste in which I shudder.... I must hear the whispering of a myriad voices. Silence alone is worthy to be heard. The silence rings; it is musical and thrills me. A night in which the silence was audible, I heard the unspeakable.

from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau – January 21, 1853