diff --git a/runtests.py b/runtests.py
index 1e866cb..d14058d 100755
--- a/runtests.py
+++ b/runtests.py
@@ -33,5 +33,11 @@ except Exception, exception:
     for module in modules: __import__(module)
     raise
 
+verbosity = 1
+if "-q" in sys.argv or '--quiet' in sys.argv:
+    verbosity = 0
+if "-v" in sys.argv or '--verbose' in sys.argv:
+    verbosity = 2
+
 # run test suite
-unittest.TextTestRunner().run(suite)
+unittest.TextTestRunner(verbosity=verbosity).run(suite)