“Our culture is suffering from an overdose of action and a shortage of contemplation. I consider contemplation a basic need; you even see it in animals. Just think about dogs and cats. You often see them staring off into space. I think that’s their way of meditating, their way of recharging their batteries. We need to have that too. But we deny this basic, psychological need—as if an entire society were to forget to go to the bathroom. That’s serious!”

Piero Ferrucci, Italian psychiatrist, in ODE Magazine, “The Silence Issue,” July/August 2008

I have a lot to say about this idea. But for now, perhaps it’s best if I stay quiet.