QUOTE : Though I would subsequently come up against a wall of silence, I was never a victim of it in the way I was a victim of abuse. Later, I could sense it, judge it, condemn it. I could stop myself being confused about it. I could defend myself against unjustified accusations and find the help I needed. I was not condemned to blindness. I did often come up against people who had more or less barricaded themselves from inner life, people who were incapable of a dialogue of thought and feeling. And I learned that such people often sought to compensate for their insecurity by seeking power. Their one protection was to evade the facts and seek refuge in silence.