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The enemy

30 May, 2011

The enemy of silence is speech, but there can be no speech without words, and there can be no words without meanings - so it follows, inexorably, in the manner of syllogisms. that when we try to speak of events of which we do not know the meaning, we must lose ourselves in the silence that lies in the gap between words and the world. This is a silence that is proof agains any conceivable act of scorn or courage; it lies beyond defiance - for what means have we to defy the mere absence of meaning? Where there is no meaning, there is banality, and that is what this silence consists in, that is why it cannot be defeated - because it is the silence of an absolute, impenetrable banality.

Amitav Ghosh, The shadow lines