Silence defined:  Complete absence of sound.”  dictionary.com.  At times, we all welcome important silence in our lives, particularly when things break down, but we also enjoy the speech and sounds of friends and music.  As a state, silence would be boring and monotonous without some sound in our lives.   

We all know people who talk too much, and some who talk too little, remindful of two ancient proverbs:

— “Speech is silver; silence is golden.”

— “Talking comes by nature, silence by wisdom.”

Both reflect the thought that wisdom entails good judgment in knowing when to speak and what to say.  More recently, other celebrities  took a different tact, with a twist of humor:

—“ if God wanted people to talk more than listen, he would have given people two mouths instead of two ears.”  Anwar Sadat (1918—1981), the third president of Egypt, who was assassinated for making a peace treaty with Israel.

— ” Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”  Muhammad Ali (1942—1974), the silver tongued boxing champion, who rarely kept silent on any subject.   

In music, sound predominates, but silence still remains an important part.  Even musical notation include an occasional rest — imposed silence between the notes.  Using an oxymoron in the title, the noted song writer and performer, Paul Simon, composed “Sounds of Silence,” which reached the top of the charts in 1966, and served as part of the sound track for the movie, The Graduate in 1967.  It addressed humanity’s inability to communicate effectively with one another, and our ready acceptance of group think, as expressed by the mass media:   

— “. . . People talking without speaking.  People hearing without listening.  People writing songs that voices never share.  No one dared.  Disturb the sounds of silence.”  

To a musician, even one who turns the amps up loud, music is a mixture of both sounds and silence.  The sounds are the notes or chords; the silence, the spaces between.  Otherwise music would be just one loud noise. 

But, when it comes to silence, “Mums the word.”

Light has been around for a long time.  Consider the quote:  “Then God said: ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”  (Bible, Genesis 1:3.)  Once created, light filled the universe quickly.  Physicists calculate that light travels approximately 186,000 miles per second, and functions as part of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity; i.e. energy equals mass time the speed of light squared.  (Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, Space.com) 

Everyone hopes to shine a little light into the world whenever and wherever we see an opportunity.  Obviously, Some of us shine more light than others, while some remain in the dark.  Historically, during the daylight hours, the principal source of light came from the sun; but during the night time hours, most humans relied on some kind of fire to brighten their surroundings. 

In about 600BC, Ancient Rome created candles by dipping into various forms of fat, tallow and wax.  Candles continued to be the prime source of night light until the twentieth century with the discovery and implementation of of electricity.  The world illuminated the night through candles (or oil lamps) for over 2,600 years. 

To be sure, light has been a frequent topic of poets, writers, composers and philosophers.  Some thought inspiring quotes follow:

— “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.  Edith Warton (1862—1937) 

— “To light a candle is to cast a shadow.”  Ursula K. LeGuin (1929–2018).  I suppose one cannot see some light without some darkness. 

— An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?  Rene Descartes (1596–1650)

— My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends — it gives a lovely light.”  Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892—1950)

— There are two kinds of light — the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.”  James Thurber (1894–1961)

— “Light tomorrow with today!”  Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)

— “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”  Carl Jung (1875–1961)

— “Sometimes that light at the end of a tunnel is a train.”  Charles Barkley (b1963)