On silence
[The demon Screwtape writes:]
Music and silence—how I detest them both!
How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell
—though longer ago than [humans], reckoning in light years, could express—
[no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time] has been surrendered /to either of those abominable forces,
but all has been occupied by Noise
— Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all //that is exultant, ruthless, and virile
—Noise //which alone defends us /from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires.
We will make [the whole universe] [a noise in the end].
We have already made great strides /in this direction /as regards the Earth.
The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end.
But I admit () we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it.
From The Screwtape Letters
Compiled in Words to Live By