The Lost Art of Silence
Reconnecting to the Power and Beauty of Quiet
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- 16,99 €
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- 16,99 €
Publisher Description
A unique celebration of silence—in art, literature, nature, and spirituality—and an exploration of its ability to bring inner peace, widen our perspectives, and inspire the human spirit in spite of the noise of contemporary life.
Silence is habitually overlooked—after all, throughout our lives, it has to compete with the cacophony of the outside world and our near-constant interior dialogue that judges, analyzes, compares, and questions. But, if we can get past this barrage, there lies a quiet place that’s well worth discovering.
The Lost Art of Silence encourages us to embrace this pursuit and allow the warm light of silence to glow. Invoking the wisdom of many of the greatest writers, thinkers, contemplatives, historians, musicians, and artists, Sarah Anderson reveals the sublime nature of quiet that’s all too often undervalued. Throughout, she shares her own penetrating insights into the potential for silence to transform us. This celebration of silence invites us to widen our perspective and shows its power to inspire the human spirit in spite of the distracting noise of contemporary life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This elegant and ethereal meditation from Anderson (Heaven's Face, Thinly Veiled), founder of the Travel Bookshop in London, explores silence as more than "just the absence of sound." Drawing on movies, books, history, religious texts, and her own travels (to silent retreats and bustling cities), Anderson portrays silence as a state of being that can bring peace or stem from anger; that prompts culturally determined reactions ("the British tend to try to fill awkward silences, often with inane chatter"); and that holds an increasing value in a "noise-driven" world. "Once you have discovered your silence within," Anderson writes, "it is always there—hard as that might be to remember in a rowdy place." Readers will be fascinated by the author's wide-ranging musings and drawn in by her lyrical language (of silences that surround taboos: "by wrapping the forbidden matter in silence, it becomes like a parcel that can never be opened, a terrible secret"). This is spellbinding.
