„It is wonderful how well men can keep secrets they have not been told.“

— Winston S. Churchill

Last update June 3, 2021.

Winston S. Churchill photo

Winston S. Churchill602

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874 - 1965

Related quotes

„How can we expect others to keep our secrets if we cannot keep them ourselves?“

— François de La Rochefoucauld French author of maxims and memoirs 1613 - 1680

Comment prétendons-nous qu'un autre puisse garder notre secret, si nous ne pouvons le garder nous-mêmes?
Maxim 64 of the Maximes supprimées.
Later Additions to the Maxims

„You can keep it a secret…. But secrets have their own weight, and it can be a very heavy one.“

— Cassandra Clare, book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

„The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep.“

— E. W. Howe Novelist, magazine and newspaper editor 1853 - 1937

Country Town Sayings (1911), p9.

„The secret of liberty is to enlighten men, as that of tyranny is to keep them in ignorance.“

— Maximilien Robespierre French revolutionary lawyer and politician 1758 - 1794

As quoted in Human Rights and Freedoms in the USSR (1981) by Fedor Eliseevich Medvedev and Gennadiĭ Ivanovich Kulikov, p. 221
Original: Le secret de la liberté est d'éclairer les hommes, comme celui de la tyrannie est de les retenir dans l'ignorance
Variant: The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.
Source: Public statement (November 1792), quoted in Oeuvres de Maximilien Robespierre (1840), Volume 2, p. 253 http://books.google.com/books?id=iSMVAAAAQAAJ

„I know too well how dangerous hope can be, how it grows and sometimes dies, taking its host with it. It's more powerful than anything Dr. Fibs keeps in his labs, more precious than all the secrets inside Sublevel Two.“

— Ally Carter, book Only the Good Spy Young

Source: Only the Good Spy Young

„It's been going so well. We have a wonderful time in class, and I can feel the chemistry between you.

- That's because it's chemistry class.“

— Alex Flinn, book Beastly

Source: Beastly

„One person can keep a secret, but not two.“

— Ernest Cline, book Ready Player One

Source: Ready Player One

Secret, Personality

„I am well aware, that men love to hear of their power, but have an extreme disrelish to be told of their duty.“

— Edmund Burke, book An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs

Source: An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs (1791), p. 441

Love, Making love, Men

„two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.“

— Alyson Nöel writer 1965

Source: Night Star

„Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead“

— Stephen King, book Under the Dome

Source: Under the Dome

„I never brag, how real I keep it, cause it's the best secret.“

— Nas American rapper, record producer and entrepreneur 1973

Take It In The Blood
On Albums, It Was Written (1996)

„Small wonder that spell means both a story told, and a formula of power over living men.“

— John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, book On Fairy-Stories

On Fairy-Stories (1939)

„Secrets and sharing soda,
That's how our time began.
Love is a story told to a friend
It's second hand.“

— Joni Mitchell Canadian musician 1943

"Conversation"
Songs

Love, Secret, Time

„A Mormon told me that they don't drink coffee. I said, "A cup of coffee every day gives you wonderful benefits." He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well, it keeps you from being Mormon…"“

— Emo Philips American comedian 1956

The Guardian - The best God joke ever - and it's mine! (September 1980)

„Only two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.“

— Sara Shepard, Pretty Little Liars

Source: Pretty Little Liars

„I journey to the east, where I have been told, there are men who have taught death some manners.“

— Tom Robbins, book Jitterbug Perfume

Jitterbug Perfume (1984)

„How can you sleep
How can you turn away
Thinking so cheap?
Some day you're gonna pay!
You're keeping secrets
I can see in your eyes:
Can anybody tell me
Why the big disguise?“

— Mike Oldfield English musician, multi-instrumentalist 1953

Song lyrics, Discovery (1984)

Secret, Thinking, Sleep

„A later generation could have explained the miracle to Sir Frank — though explaining in terms he would not have understood. Though he knew well enough the theory of family traits and likenesses, it would have been impossible then to make him comprehend the intricacy of a chromosome which carries inside it — not merely the stereotypes of parental hair or temperament — but the secret knowledge of how to breathe, how to work the muscles to move the bones, how to grow, how to remember, how to commence the processes of thought … all the infinite number of secret "how to's" that have to be passed on for life to stay above jelly level.
A freak chromosome in Sir Frank ensured he passed on, together with these usual secrets, the secret of his individual consciousness.“

— Brian W. Aldiss British science fiction author 1925 - 2017

Let's Be Frank (1957)

Life, Secret, Family, Knowledge

„All stories told have been told before. We tell them to ourselves, as did all men who ever were. And all men who ever will be. The only things new are the names.“

— Brandon Sanderson, book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

„Can you keep secrets? Can you know a thing and never say it again?“

— Dan Brown, book The Da Vinci Code

Source: The Da Vinci Code

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