A still small voice told her it was time to leave.
a still small voice
idiomA quiet inner prompting of conscience or intuition.
Origin
The phrase comes from the story of the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Hiding on a mountain, Elijah witnesses a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but God is in none of them; then, in verse 12, comes a still small voice — and it is in that near-silence, not in the spectacle, that he finds the divine.
The whole force of the passage is the contrast: the truly important thing arrives not as a dramatic display but as something quiet and easily missed.
In English a still small voice is the hushed inner prompting of conscience or instinct — the faint, insistent sense of what is right or true that speaks under the noise, and that you have to be quiet enough to hear.
Amid all the confident advice, a still small voice kept warning him that the deal was too good to be true.
Everyone around the table was urging her to sign, and the numbers all agreed with them, but a still small voice she had learned over the years not to ignore told her, quietly and unshakably, to walk away.
The rise and fall of kings and the warnings of the prophets.
- 01
David and Goliath (idiom)
A contest in which a much weaker underdog faces a far stronger opponent.
- 02
the writing on the wall (idiom)
A clear sign that something, especially failure or disaster, is on its way.
- 03
feet of clay (idiom)
In someone apparently strong and without failings, a hidden weakness which could lead to downfall.
- 04
a drop in the bucket (idiom)
A quantity so small it is negligible next to what is actually needed.
- 05
a leopard cannot change its spots (idiom)
People rarely change their fundamental nature, however much they may seem to.
- 06
how the mighty have fallen (idiom)
A remark on the dramatic downfall of someone once powerful or admired.