Discourse on Language, pt. 1

"Literature is the expression of a feeling of deprivation, a recourse against a sense of something missing. But the contrary is also true: language is what makes us human. It is a recourse against the meaningless noise and silence of nature and history."

-Octavio Paz

I am not sure that I agree with everything in this quote, but what I do like about it, very much, is that it asserts the reality and validity of language--the fact that only human beings can discourse about first causes, motives, beauty . . . and, despite the possibility of misunderstanding, whether deliberate or unintentional, we can, indeed, still gain some measure of knowledge about these things.
This topic is one of recurring, almost compelling, importance for me; I shall continue to poke at it.

the voice of silence

Without [eating and drinking with Christ], there is no progress toward the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the only goal of the Catholic life, whose only language is music--the etymological root of which means "silence," as in "mute" and "mystery." Music is the voice of silence, and so it follows that to enter with Our Beloved Lord into that prayer of quiet and to pray to Our Blessed Lady that He might lead us there, we must learn to speak that langague too, that is, we must know music and especially the music of words which is poetry.

-John Senior, The Restoration of Christian Culture

i have wondered of late whether it is a bad thing that i no longer have a constant obsession for music--even good, quiet, "ordered" music. there is so much noise, of course, even "noise pollution." but art stems from silence, because silence is necessary for contemplation. all good art springs from and leads to contemplation, and we cannot contemplate when we are surrounded by noise. i think of scenes in movies, or even people that i know, who "prepare" to paint by listening to some music to create a certain mood. surely this is artificial. surely true art cannot spring from a falsely created state of mind or emotion. this is hardly "strong emotion recollected in tranquility."
the sound of silence, indeed!