Questioning Quietness

For how many seconds/ minutes/ hours you can be QUIET?

Is it easy to be quiet? Is it easy to be quiet during conversations? Do you take quietness as that invisible cloak behind which you hide? Is it the real quietness of yours where the mind is also quiet? In the book, Think like a Monk, I read that Monks go on long periods of silence. And with practice, they also train their mind to be silent. That was the state which Samisha was aiming for. Zipping your mouth, and forcing yourself not to speak, will pressurize you more to speak. That’s a forceful state which you have chosen, not something which you had willingly accepted. Quietness, like stillness, is generally questioned. We never say that why that person is talking too much, but we always pick up that person who does not speak much and is silent throughout the party.