The Dangers of Silence
From the
Rev. Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984):
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so
I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was
neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak
out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for
me." |
And an updated version:
"When they came for
the 4th amendment,
I kept silent because I am not a drug user.
When they came for the 5th amendment,
I kept silent because I am innocent.
When they came for the 2nd amendment,
I kept silent because I do not own a gun.
When they took the 1st amendment,
I could no longer speak out."
--anonymous |
The Sound Of Silence (P. Simon)
Hello darkness, my old friend.
I've come to talk with you again.
Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping
and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the
sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone
‘neath the halo of a street lamp, I turned my collar to the cold and
damp
when my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
that split the night and touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening.
People writing songs that voices never shared, no one dared disturb
the sound of silence.
"Fools," said I, "you do not know, silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might
reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of
silence.
And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made
and the sign flashed out its warning in the words that it was
forming.
And the sign said "The words of the prophets are written on the
subway walls
and tenement halls and whispered in the sound of silence."
|
Buttons and bar:
(if anyone knows who wrote the second quote,
please let me know so that I can give proper credit) |