From Evernote:

A Wonderful Silence Overpowers a Weighty Sentence

I love the pause I experience after a profound statement. You know, the pause that makes you stop everything you are doing, thinking, and saying so that you can direct every ounce of your being towards concentrating on what was just said.

These moments usually happen to me after reading a great sentence in a book or hearing a great line in a movie. It is the zinger, the punch-line, the climactic statement; the focus of all that was said before and the point of what is said after. It is the proverbial "hmmm" moment.

That moment invites you to respond. But how? With a clarifying question; with a skeptical eye; with a cynical sneer; with an agreeable smile; with an argumentative retort? The possible responses are truly infinite. The experience, however, that I am talking about is when the singular, appropriate response is silence.

My whole day has been characterized by that response: SILENCE. I think of words but none come. Saying, "Wow!" or even a jaw-drop insufficiently expresses the silence I am experiencing. This silence has weight and power; I attempt to respond but I am held back. Fear, almost terror, begins to qualify this silence. Though it is the safest place to be.