Efterhaanden som han blev inderligere og inderligere i Bønnen, havde han Mindre og Mindre at sige, og tilsidst blev han ganske taus. Han blev taus, ja hvad der om muligt endnu mere end Taushed er modsat det at tale, han blev en Hørende. Han meente at det at bede er at tale; han lærte at det at bede ikke blot er at tie, men er at høre. Og saaledes er det; at bede er ikke at høre sig selv tale, men er at komme til at tie, og at blive ved at tie, at bie, til den bedende hører Gud.
Gradually, as he became more and more fervent in prayer, he had less and less to say, and finally he became completely silent. He became silent. Indeed, he became what is, if possible, even more opposite to speaking than silence; he became a listener. He thought that to pray is to speak; he learned that to pray is not only to be silent but is to listen. And so it is; to pray is not to listen to oneself speak but is to become silent and to remain silent, to wait until the one praying hears God.
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard – Danish Protestant theologian an philosopher (1813-1855), known as one of the most important academics in Denmark, from “The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air: Three Godly Discourses” (“Lilien paa Marken og Fuglen under Himlen. Tre gudelige Taler”, 1849), Quotations book 2021