“Every tradition conceives of silence as “the Gateway to God,” the entrée to spiritual wisdom, the beginning of interior peace, the first step to self-control. Silence, the masters repeat, is the first step to wisdom, the door to self-awareness. Silence, the monastics come to realize, is the link that connects us to the Divine. However we define the Ultimate, only silence will take us there.”
–Joan Chittister, The Monastic Heart, p. 52
