The mind of a wise man is the safest custody of secrets; cheerfulness is the key to friendship; patience and read more

The mind of a wise man is the safest custody of secrets; cheerfulness is the key to friendship; patience and forbearance will conceal many defects.

Nothing is so oppressive as a secret: women find it difficult to
keep one long; and I know a read more

Nothing is so oppressive as a secret: women find it difficult to
keep one long; and I know a goodly number of men who are women in
this regard.
[Fr., Rien ne pese tant qu'un secret:
Le porter loin est difficile aux dames;
Et je sais meme sur ce fait
Bon nombre d'hommes que sont femmes.]

Trust him not with your secrets, who, when left alone in your room, turns over your papers.

Trust him not with your secrets, who, when left alone in your room, turns over your papers.

When we desire to confine our words, we commonly say they are
spoken under the rose.
read more

When we desire to confine our words, we commonly say they are
spoken under the rose.
- Sir Thomas Browne,

Leave in concealment what has long been concealed.
[Lat., Latere semper patere, quod latuit diu.]

Leave in concealment what has long been concealed.
[Lat., Latere semper patere, quod latuit diu.]

I pray you all,
If you have hitherto concealed this sight,
Let it be tenable in your read more

I pray you all,
If you have hitherto concealed this sight,
Let it be tenable in your silence still.
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,
Give it an understanding but no tongue.

I have play'd the fool, the gross fool, to believe
The bosom of a friend will hold a secret
read more

I have play'd the fool, the gross fool, to believe
The bosom of a friend will hold a secret
Mine own could not contain.

When a secret is revealed, it is the fault of the man who
confided it.

When a secret is revealed, it is the fault of the man who
confided it.

But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale read more

But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.