Quote by Boris Pasternak: “It isn't a matter of what you say, but what you keep silent about.”

This quote highlights the significant power and meaning embedded in unspoken thoughts and unexpressed truths. It suggests that what is consciously withheld or implicitly understood can reveal more about a person or situation than overt communication, emphasizing the weight of silence.

In a society rife with censorship and political repression, Pasternak's novel implicitly critiques the oppressive atmosphere where speaking out was dangerous, making silence or indirect communication a potent form of resistance.

Russian poet and novelist who is best known internationally for his novel Doctor Zhivago, which was banned in the Soviet Union and published abroad in 1957. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958 but was forced to decline it under Soviet pressure. His poetry is considered among the finest in the Russian language.