“A proper secrecy is the only mystery of able men; mystery is the only secrecy of weak and cunning ones.”
15 January 1753
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
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Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield65
British statesman and man of letters 1694–1773Related quotes
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
The Essays Or Counsels, Civil And Moral, Of Francis Ld. Verulam Viscount St. Albans (1625), Of Simulation And Dissimulation
“Only mystery allows us to live, only mystery.”
Federico García Lorca (1898–1936) Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director
“There is no magic, only mysteries explained, and mysteries unexplained.”
John C. Wright (1961) American novelist and technical writer
Source: Titans of Chaos (2007), Chapter 8, “Pallid Hounds A-Hunting” Section 1 (p. 106)
“There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part.”
Bram Stoker (1847–1912) Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula
Clifford D. Simak book Time and Again
Source: Time and Again (1951), Chapter I (p. 6)
Context: There is mystery here, but a soft, sure mystery that is understood and only remains a mystery because I want it so. The mystery of the nighthawk against a darkening sky, the puzzle of the firefly along the lilac hedge.
“Belief in mysteries, any manner of mysteries, is the only lasting luxury in life.”
Zilpha Keatley Snyder book The Witches of Worm
Source: The Witches of Worm
“Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.”
Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) French clergyman, noble and statesman
“Maxims,” Testament Politique (1641)