Sterne's Tristram Shandy suggests that "the end of disputation is more to silence than convince"--has anyone encountered a more thorough or older exposition of this aphorism? (Other than the one I've drafted...)

Is there an earlier example of the epic long pause preceding the final cadence than the end of Handel's Messiah? Would like to know who invented monumental silence (and whether it's gay).

Someone postering the street poles of Toronto is trying to put me out of a job.

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