"There may be something good in silence. It's a brand new thing. You can hear the funniest little discussions, if you keep turning the volume down. Shut yourself up, and listen out loud"
About this Quote
The best trick is the paradox of "turning the volume down" to hear more. He's not talking about ears; he's talking about attention. When you reduce the noise you control, the noise you don't control becomes legible: the small, weird arguments in your head, the ambient anxieties, the social scripts you repeat without noticing. "Funniest little discussions" frames that inner chatter as absurd, even lovable - comedy as a coping tool, but also as a method. Humor creates distance, and distance creates insight.
"Shut yourself up, and listen out loud" sounds like stage direction for survival in an always-on culture. It's anti-performative advice from someone whose job is performance: stop narrating yourself, stop competing for airtime, and let listening become an act with presence and volume. The subtext is control. You can't always change the world’s noise, but you can change your relationship to it - and discover that the quiet isn't empty; it's crowded with information.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Borland, Wes. (2026, January 16). There may be something good in silence. It's a brand new thing. You can hear the funniest little discussions, if you keep turning the volume down. Shut yourself up, and listen out loud. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-may-be-something-good-in-silence-its-a-133683/
Chicago Style
Borland, Wes. "There may be something good in silence. It's a brand new thing. You can hear the funniest little discussions, if you keep turning the volume down. Shut yourself up, and listen out loud." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-may-be-something-good-in-silence-its-a-133683/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There may be something good in silence. It's a brand new thing. You can hear the funniest little discussions, if you keep turning the volume down. Shut yourself up, and listen out loud." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-may-be-something-good-in-silence-its-a-133683/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.










