SECRETS
“If you would wish another to keep your secret, first keep it yourself.” — Seneca, circa A.D. 60
In general . . . one of the surest signs of social maturity is the ability to keep confidential matters to one’s self, remembering Jean Paul Richter’s warning, “Whoever lets go the smallest part of a secret has lost the power to keep the rest.” For that reason, “Can you keep a secret?” is a double-edged question if the speaker is passing along anything that was told to him in confidence — it clearly shows that he, for one, cannot.