“Silence before being born, silence after death: life is nothing but noise between two unfathomable silences.”

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Meaning

The quote suggests that human life is brief and noisy compared with the quiet unknown before birth and after death. It presents existence as a small interval between two mysteries. The line also implies that what we call life is temporary and fragile.

When It Was Said

1994

Who It Was Said To

Not documented yet.

Historical Context

Not documented yet.

Source

Paula (1994)

Original Language & Translation

Originally said in English.

Did They Really Say It?

Listed with a cited source on Wikiquote: Paula (1994).

Did You Know?

Wikiquote cites Paula (1994) for this quote.

About Isabel Allende

Chilean-American writer

Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American writer known for her fiction and for novels that often use elements of magical realism. Her work includes The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts, both of which found wide commercial success. She has been described as the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author. In 2004, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She later received Chile’s National Literature Prize in 2010 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

More from Isabel Allende (171 quotes) →

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Books by Isabel Allende

La casa de los espíritus

1994

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Hija de la fortuna

2000

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Retrato en sepia

2000

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De amor y de sombra

1984

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Inés del alma mía

2006

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