"In 1969, UNESCO passed a resolution outlining a human right that doesn't get talked about much - the right to silence. I think they're referring to what happens if a noisy factory gets built beside your house, or a shooting range, or if a disco opens downstairs. They don't mean you can demand that a restaurant turn off the classic rock tunes it's playing or that you can muzzle the guy next to you on the train yelling into his cellphone. It's a nice thought though.....despite our innate dread of absolute silence, we should have the right to take an occasional aural break, to experience, however briefly, a moment or two of sonic air. To have meditative moment, a head clearing space, is a nice idea for a human right."
-David Byrne, as quoted in the October Smithsonian
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