“When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.”

“I talk of love, a scholar's parrot may talk greek, but, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.”

“A man of words and not of deeds Is like a garden full of weedsAnd when the weeds begin to grow It's like a garden full of snow And when the snow begins to fall It's like a bird upon the wall And when the bird away does fly It's like an eagle in the sky And when the sky begins to roar It's like a lion at the door And when the door begins to crack It's like a stick across your back And when your back begins to smartIt's like a penknife in your heart And when your heart begins to bleed You're dead, and dead, and dead indeed.”

“I told him that I believe all things in nature bear the mark of their Maker. The eagle, the owl, and the wind.We sat silently for a long moment, understanding that we are not so different really.”

“Geep,' whuppled the parrot.”

“What is talkativeness? It is the result of doing away with the vital distinction between talking and keeping silent. Only some one who knows how to remain essentially silent can really talk--and act essentially. Silence is the essence of inwardness, of the inner life. Mere gossip anticipates real talk, and to express what is still in thought weakens action by forestalling it. But some one who can really talk, because he knows how to remain silent, will not talk about a variety of things but about one thing only, and he will know when to talk and when to remain silent. Where mere scope is concerned, talkativeness wins the day, it jabbers on incessantly about everything and nothing...In a passionate age great events (for they correspond to each other) give people something to talk about. And when the event is over, and silence follows, there is still something to remember and to think about while one remains silent. But talkativeness is afraid of the silence which reveals its emptiness.”