The nooks of ruin where the old monks had once had their refectories and gardens, and where the strong walls were now pressed into the service of humble sheds and stables, were almost as silent as the old monks in their graves.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 49. Pip passes an old monastery that has fallen into disuse and decay. He uses a simile to compare the stillness of the ruined monastery to the silence of the dead monks.