Assagioli on Silence

‘…the true activity of one’s deepest being is often hidden beneath apparent inactivity, in the heart of silence. As in the world of nature, so in man every creative act, every original initiative and impulse, and every surge of life is produced in darkness, in quietness and in apparent immobility.  Seeds germinate in the darkness, covered by two layers of dark brown soil and unspoilt snow, spring waters gush from the earth, living and pure, while deep down under the ground is the vein that feeds them. Thus in man the deep, hidden work through which he forms himself and develops his powers, the demanding task of processing and assimilating the building bricks of experience collected in his outward life, the hard work that lies behind every productive inspiration, indeed every truly productive act takes place in a collected mind, in silence, in the inner regions of the soul.’

From Transpersonal Development by Roberto Assagioli (1988) Chapter 22.