"Language is the medium we use in much the same way a composer uses notes, the way a painter uses paint."
– Francine Prose

When we pause our speech (or writing) we prepare the canvas for our art. Just as a painter prepares a blank canvas on which to make the all important first strokes.

Silence is our canvas.

Language is our box of paints.

Words are the colours.

Sentences are our brush strokes.

(There's another great bonus to silence in speech…we can listen.)