The Lost Art of Silence
Reconnecting to the Power and Beauty of Quiet
by Sarah Anderson
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Pub Date Dec 05 2023 | Archive Date Dec 12 2023
Shambhala Publications, Inc. | Shambhala
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Description
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.
Advance Praise
"We live in a noisy world. In The Lost Art of Silence, Sarah Anderson reminds us what peace there is when we get away from the din and the clamor going on both in the outside world and inside our heads. Through a rich compendium of historical and personal examples we are shown the prizes, and sometimes pitfalls, that silence offers. A fascinating book to dip into when we want to opt out."
—Vicki Mackenzie, author of Cave in the Snow
"A fascinating travelogue through the many worlds of silence as expressed by writers, artists, philosophers, hermits. This compendium of experience and reflections on silence spans the cosmic to the horrifying, offering a full spectrum of human engagement with the quest for quiet. Anderson shares inspiring stories and heroic encounters with the self in silence, encouraging readers to take up the quest and join the legions across history who have, in the end, found that ‘silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything.’"
—Stephanie Kaza, author of Conversations with Trees
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781645472162 |
PRICE | $21.95 (USD) |
PAGES | 304 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
This is a profoundly beautiful, and, in my view, important meditation of the importance of silence in life. Written against the backdrop of the lockdown, when all of our lives were quieter, even as much in our world grew noisier, I really treasure the author’s beautifully written exposition on how much we need silence in our lives.
I can see my students and fellow spiritual seekers really appreciating this book. Thank you.
The Lost Art of Silence is a book that covers all of the different aspects of silence in different subjects such as art, literature, nature, and spirituality. Each section is packed with famous people's opinions and quotes about silence, its benefits, its powers, and also its negatives. This book read more like a reference guide to silence, including every reference to silence within the subjects I mentioned at the beginning of this review. This is not a scientific book or a historiographical book on silence, but rather, a guide on how to invoke and inspire silence into our lives.
As someone that appreciates peace and quiet, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that some of the greatest thinkers, artists, and minds of our recent past have each appreciated and needed the absence of noise for their own creative, mental, physical, and spiritual well being. There are so many famous works that have explored silence that I need to look up now that were mentioned in this book. The depth and descriptiveness of silence that various individuals articulated throughout time was both poetic and spiritual, capturing the beauty of its power and magic.
This book has helped to re-evaluate my own relationship to silence and why it is valued and needed within my own life.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
No surprise, but THE LOST OF ART OF SILENCE by Sarah Anderson is like nothing I've ever read before. It's a meditation, wide-ranging discussion, memoir, thought-provoking wonder. My lifelong quest for silence around me, my growing reaction to enforced busyness and nonstop talking, the simplicity of a forest so remote I can sit quietly and feel the forest around me -- all my unspoken, unexpressed yearning is wonderfully described, explored, and written in this book I will cherish forever. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.
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