Speech is civilisation itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence which isolates.


The Magic Mountain (1924) ch. 6 (translated by H. T. Lowe-Porter)

Thomas Mann Quotes

Speech is civilisation itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence which isolates.

Speech is civilisation itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence which isolates.

Speech is civilisation itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence which isolates.

Speech is civilisation itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence which isolates.