There is something in the nature of silence which affects me deeply. Why it is I know not; but I do know that I love to be alone at such an hour as this. I love to forget the outward world and hold communion with the beings of the mind. – Charles Lanman, “Musings,” 1840

Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas. – J.K. Rowling, “The Egg and The Eye,” Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000,

Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree. РAntoine de Saint-Exup̩ry

How magnificent the city is by the June moonlight! — after the streets are empty and silent. – Byron Caldwell Smith, letter to Kate Stephens