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Post by graceyichen on Dec 6, 2015 8:01:06 GMT
Gandhi said, Speak only if it improves upon the silence.
Da Vinci said, Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.
Victor Hugo said, It is not easy to keep silent when silence is a lie.
Nadezhda Mandelstam, author of Hope against Hope, a memoir published in 1970 about life during the repressive Stalinist Regime (wikipedia), said,
I decided it is better to scream, silence is the real crime against humanity.
I still cannot decide, when it is important to speak, and when it is great to be silent.
What if being silent isn't a lie? People say, being silent is the same as agreeing, but can't silence be interpreted as being on a different level.
What if there is no anger in a silent person because they've gone beyond being triggered by words.
Should we always speak up for justice because we should strive for a peaceful world with less arguments? It's great that we feel the responsibility, but can't silence do the same? Or How could silence make things worst?
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Post by ETypeRegymon on Dec 6, 2015 11:40:57 GMT
How can silence make things worse? One example I can think of is refusing to give testimony. Say a person witnessed a crime, and they know who the culprit is. But, they're afraid that the criminal will get them, so they don't talk. Meanwhile, the police already arrested some innocent person. If the witness stays quiet, then the criminal runs free and an innocent person gets the blame.
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Post by timmy on Dec 6, 2015 11:59:11 GMT
To tell a silence, one has to first speak. As long as one did not directly lie, I believe silence cannot be lying. To talk about Regy's example, it is indeed immoral to face away from giving testimony, for an innocent person can be blamed. However, the witness did not lie- he simply decided to not tell the truth.
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Post by Jessica (Yeeun) Kim on Dec 6, 2015 13:52:46 GMT
It is not easy to keep silence when people keep silence. This is because people do not want to go out from society cycle by being act or say against their society. At the same time, it is important to say right things when silence from society is a lie. I believe this is what Victor Hugo wanted to say. It is true that people should feel responsible to speak up for justice, but I believe silence can not do the same.
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Post by heesu on Dec 6, 2015 14:43:13 GMT
I think it depends on the situation. Sometime, keeping silence could be best solution. For example, when I am in the indecision position and don't know what's right then I think it's better to stay quiet because I could make it worst situation. People don't want to make a trouble with what they said, but in the moment many people don't think to stay quiet because of things that they want to say. But I think sometime silence is best solution for certain cases. I usually don't stay quiet, when something is going wrong, but I stay quiet when the person keep pushing their wrong ideas and etc. I don't want to make trouble with my actions and words, so I usually stay quiet in the moment when something is not right, but people keep doing bad things.
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Post by jungseunghoon16 on Dec 6, 2015 17:52:31 GMT
It depends on the situation. There are times you should be brave and speak the unspoken, but there are times where you should not talk. These situations make up the decisions that we go through everyday, we know for sure that when a cluncoolmate or the teacher is presenting, you are not to talk. However, we sometimes talk over them time to time when you can't control yourself. Are you being brave by cutting the others and talking for yourself? Or is it because you are lacking self control. I sometimes think that talking is restricted by strict standards of what is disruptive and what is not. Who are the others to decide what you have to say is irrelevant and what is not? You can say whatever you want but not use your words to make others feel uncomfortable.
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Post by Jonathan on Dec 6, 2015 20:08:06 GMT
People are evil. We only think about ourselves. In extreme cases, like Regy mentioned, testimonies can be very serious if you don't tell the truth or even lie about it. However, you act depending on whether telling the truth or keeping silent helps you the most. The world is just like that. Of course there would be honest people to show up and do it but do you really not keep silecence to tell what was bad? Or do you just agree with the majority because of the consequences?
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sunnyp
Junior Member
Posts: 92 
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Post by sunnyp on Dec 7, 2015 0:06:36 GMT
I agree with what they said, but silence is not always great. Sometimes there is need to protest because as you said, some people do take silence as a yes. Actually my question was, when would silence ever work? When I saw their quotes, they reminded me of "silence treatments" people give to each other to show their anger or punish someone but I couldn't think of any cases where silence would work. I guess it applies when people talk without thinking. Then, silence is better. But I think being able to speak up is important and that helps the world change.
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Post by sangjoon on Dec 12, 2015 10:35:03 GMT
In my personal opinion, it depends on each situation. If silent can make the situation better for sure, then being silent will be the wise choice. However, if there's possibility that silent can make situation worse, then maybe being silent won't be the wose choose. What I mean is that if there's any little possibility that silent might bring the worst situation, then I thinkchoose to speak is a right choice. It is never good to be silent when you realize that something is going wrong.
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Post by Emily on Dec 12, 2015 13:22:35 GMT
As most people have already said, everything depends on the situation. For example, if my friends were in a fight and I had an idea to try to end the dispute, keeping quiet would not be such a good idea. However, if I did say something unintentionally wrong and ended up making the conflict even worse, that would cause a problem, even though it was unintentional.
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Post by graceyichen on Dec 13, 2015 14:48:54 GMT
I think silence is important in arguments. This kind of reminds me of mafia movies. The real boss never gets angry and he never has to talk to make his point. People understand what they did wrong because the silence that they receive from him terrifies them. That's how being silent is powerful. Obviously we're not the mafia, but I believe remaining silent can prove points better than criticism.
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Post by susansun18 on Dec 13, 2015 16:00:25 GMT
Yeah, silence is not always good or always bad... I think it depends on situation..? For a really childish example, when your teacher is criticizing you, if you keep silence, she will not continue talking too long because she thinks you understand what she says but for bad example, it's really terrible when a girlfriend is telling her boyfriend about what she is not satisfied with and the boy keeps silence, that is a bad sign: either he was not listening or he just doesn't want to listen. So in conclusion, I think silence can be a peaceful choice or a sign for a bad future..?
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