QuoteProject
There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everybody guesses.
George Bernard Shaw
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that some secrets are so obvious that they become common knowledge, yet they remain unacknowledged.

George Bernard Shaw's quote speaks to the irony of certain secrets that, despite being widely speculated upon, are not openly discussed. This phenomenon highlights the complexities of human behavior and social dynamics, where people may choose to ignore or refrain from addressing what is already known or suspected, thereby keeping the 'secret' intact. It suggests a sense of collective understanding that exists outside of verbal acknowledgment, reflecting deeper truths about perception and communication in society.

Themes

SecretsTruthHuman BehaviorSocial DynamicsCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about trust in relationships, this quote can illustrate how some unspoken truths linger beneath the surface.

More from George Bernard Shaw

What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
Marriage is good enough for the lower classes: they have facilities for desertion that are denied to us.
George Bernard ShawRead
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
George Bernard ShawRead
Those who talk most about the blessings of marriage and the constancy of its vows are the very people who declare that if the chain were broken and the prisoners left free to choose, the whole social fabric would fly asunder. You cannot have the argument both ways. If the prisoner is happy, why lock him in? If he is not, why pretend that he is?
George Bernard ShawRead
Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
George Bernard ShawRead
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
George Bernard ShawRead

Similar quotes

No war is over until the enemy says it's over. We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.
James MattisRead
Not even the lichen of the tundra is at peace. All is struggle, all is war for dominance. Those who lose, vanish. -And we’re no different you’re saying- We are, soldier. We possess the privilege of choice. The gift of foresight. Though often we come too late in acknowledging responsibilities….
Steven EriksonRead
A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours.
William Ralph IngeRead
Eternal nothingness is fine if you happen to be dressed for it.
Woody AllenRead
Those who confine God's love exclusively to the elect appear to me to take a narrow and contracted view of God's character and attributes....I have long come to the conclusion that men may be _x000D_ more systematic in their statements than the Bible, and may be led into grave error by idolatrous veneration of a system
J. C. RyleRead
The armour of falsehood is subtly wrought out of darkness, and hides a man not only from others, but from his own soul.
E. M. ForsterRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.