“I think there is some sort of sieve in my mind that prohibits the rapid (let alone simultaneous) transference of my thoughts into speech. Like one of those mesh drain guards in a bathtub, there is something that prevents my thoughts from leaving my mind, and so they collect, like those nasty damp coils of hair stuck to the mesh, and have to forcibly be removed. For everyone knows things are diminished by translation. Translations are merely subjective approximations and that is how I feel about everything I say: it is not what I am thinking but merely the closest I can get to it using the faulty reductive constraints of language. And so I often think it is better to say nothing than to express myself inexactly.”

From Peter Cameron’s book, Someday this Pain will be Useful to You.

I have often thought this because most of the time I never know what to say or if what I’m saying even comes close to accurately portraying what I’m thinking. People often wonder why I am so silent sometimes. But it’s true, I’d rather say nothing at all, than speak some of the shit that so many people do. This leads me on to wonder if we really ever know anyone-our friends, our families, our lovers. The human brain is so complex, people in themselves are so complex, how can you ever really know the thoughts behind the speech and the real reason why someone has said something? It’s really amazing how words are used to express so much yet they never really express anything at all.