At the outset, Gibran’s image suggests that silence is not absence but preparation—the drawing back of a bowstring before the arrow flies. In that hush, motives settle, emotions clarify, and aim steadies. Gibran’s meditative style in The Prophet (1923)—especially in “On Talking,” where he warns, “You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts”—implies that speech gains force only after inner stillness has done its work. Thus, the command is sequential: first refine the intention in quiet, then let the voice go where it must. [...]
