"Silence is argument carried out by other means"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. "Argument carried out by other means" borrows the hard logic of strategists who treat politics as war with rules swapped out. Its an echo of Clausewitz's famous formulation about war, but Guevara reverses the direction: he militarizes rhetoric. That inversion suggests a worldview where persuasion and coercion sit on the same continuum, where the battlefield includes meetings, rumors, pauses, and withheld statements. The subtext is blunt: communication is not primarily about mutual understanding; its about advantage.
Theres also a darker edge. If silence is an argument, then refusing to speak isnt neutrality - its alignment. In revolutionary settings, where loyalty tests and factional suspicion are constant, quiet can be read as indictment or defiance. The quote licenses that reading. It frames the unsaid as an intentional act, converting absence into evidence. That can empower discipline and resistance, but it can also justify paranoia: every pause becomes a political move, every non-answer a threat.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: Moved by MeToo - Owning Up and Reaching Out (Tom Bissonette, 2019) modern compilationISBN: 9780359433469 · ID: iCiLDwAAQBAJ
Evidence:
... Silence is argument carried out by other means . " Che Guevara Even families with frequent and very vocal disagreements don't nec- essarily harm children . The key is whether they resolve the conflict or not . This includes adults ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Guevara, Che. (2026, February 9). Silence is argument carried out by other means. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/silence-is-argument-carried-out-by-other-means-30548/
Chicago Style
Guevara, Che. "Silence is argument carried out by other means." FixQuotes. February 9, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/silence-is-argument-carried-out-by-other-means-30548/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Silence is argument carried out by other means." FixQuotes, 9 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/silence-is-argument-carried-out-by-other-means-30548/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.









