Shy and unready men are great betrayers of secrets; for there are few wants more urgent for the moment than the want of something to say. Sir Henry Taylor
There are some occasions when a man must tell half his secret, in order to conceal the rest. Lord Chesterfield
None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them. Charles Caleb Colton
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Benjamin Franklin
Secrets are things we give to others to keep for us. Elbert G Hubbard
It is wise not to seek a secret; and honest, not to reveal one. William Penn
To keep your secret is wisdom; but to expect others to keep it is folly. Samuel Johnson
Secrecy and a free, democratic government don’t mix. Harry Truman
The personal life of every individual is based on secrecy, and perhaps it is partly for that reason that civilized man is so nervously anxious that personal privacy should be respected. Anton Chekhov
Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state. Cardinal Richelieu
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness. Niels Bohr
The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. John F Kennedy
Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. Lord Acton
No one ever confides a secret to one person only. No one destroys all copies of a document. Renata Adler
Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all. Sophocles
Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets. Paul Tournier