Lucy put out her hand as if to ward his words away… – Florence Bone (1875–1971), The Morning of To‑Day, 1907

Talking is like playing on the harp; there is as much in laying the hands on the strings to stop their vibration as in twanging them to bring out their music. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Now, you indicate to me that you really see that as communication going back and forth rather than simply individual expression. But communication is assumed to be a dialogue between people, not two monologues. – Quoted in Howard Stein, A Time to Speak, 1974 [See also above quotes. —t&#

There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues, that is all. – Rebecca West, “There is No Conversation,” 1934