Sound and Fury

I'm writing an essay for English right now... okay so I'm just brainstorming. Scratch that, I'm just thinking about my topic without any intention to write most of it down...
The paper is supposed to be a definition essay, one page, single spaced, in which I write an extended definition of a term.
The term I've chosen is Silence.
Silence is a very pertinent to my life. I'm studying American Sign Language right now, learning about the culture and language of a people who live in a predominantly silent world. After much contemplation, I decided that if I were ever to become deaf, the only thing I would miss is music. If not for music, I would probably break my own ear drums now.
There is too much noise in this world. People talking but not saying a word. Shouting. Sirens. Horns. Alarms. Arguing. Contention. A familiar voice. A baby cry. The waves crashing on the sand. The wind through the trees. The rain on the window.
I often wonder what it would be like if we didn't hear these things. Would we be happy? Would we be better off? Would we be grateful enough for not hearing the bad things, that it would ease the pain of not hearing things we loved?
If I were to never hear yelling and contention and bad things again, would it be enough to cancel out my sadness at never hearing my favorite things again? Would I be able to live in a world without music? Without the good sounds? Would playing the piano or the violin have the same meaning to me if I couldn't hear the music, just feel the vibrations?
What is silence anyway?
When a full Orchestra plays Beethoven and everyone has played their last note, have you ever noticed how loud the silence is? The notes ring out long after the musicians are done playing.
What we say rings out long after we have stopped speaking. What we do rings out long after we have stopped acting. Silent defiance speaks volumes, when used in the right way. Silent acceptance sings sonnets when used in the correct context. Sometimes we need to get angry. Sometimes we need to be heard. Sometimes we need to speak up for what we know is right. Other times, we need to stay silent. When the world is throwing it's accusations at us, would we be better supporting their cause if we spoke up and testified to what they were saying.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." President Lincoln was a smart man.

So what is silence? Is it something that drives men mad? Or is it something to calm the trouble soul? Is it empty and hollow? Or full of meaning and words better left unsaid? Would the world be a better place if we had more of it, or less?

So many questions. One teeny little paper to spill them all out on.

Haha was this a run-on post or what?