nothing to say

In her book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell cites Gilles Deleuze’s Negotiations:

We’re riddled with pointless talk, insane quantities of words and images. Stupidity’s never blind or mute. So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. Repressive forces don’t stop people expressing themselves but rather force them to express themselves; what a relief to have nothing to say, the right to say nothing, because only then is there a chance of framing the rare, and ever rarer, thing that might be worth saying.

Odell goes on to say:

The function of nothing here–of saying nothing–is that’s a precursor to having something to say. ‘Nothing’ is neither a luxury or nor a waste of time, but rather a necessary part of meaningful thought and speech.

What a blessing it is to have nothing to say…