--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Big secrets make small men of us…" description: "\"“Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re the men others have to keep secrets from.”\" — Fredrik Backman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg" --- # Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re… ![“Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re the men others have to keep secrets from.” quote by Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg) > ““Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re the men others have to keep secrets from.”” [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Secrets diminish our sense of power, especially when we are forced to conceal them from others. **In simple terms:** Secrets make us feel small. Key Takeaway Guard secrets wisely. Themes power secrecy vulnerability Mood thoughtful serious Type literary reflective When to use this quote - relationships - workplace - family discussions Key Concepts psychological burden social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What secrets are you holding? - How do secrets affect your confidence? A Different Perspective Keeping secrets can damage trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Big Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-secrets-3023334/) [Men Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-secrets-1945269/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Secrets Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets-make-787753/) [Small Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-men-416062/) ## Related quotes > [“Big secrets turn us into small men.” Benji”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/big-secrets-turn-us-into-small-men-benji/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [Men with secrets tend to be drawn to each other, not because they want to share what they know but because they need the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/men-with-secrets-tend-to-be-drawn-to-each-other-not-because-they-want/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [It is wonderful how well men can keep secrets they have not been told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/it-is-wonderful-how-well-men-can-keep-secrets-they-have-not-been-told/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“Keeping big secrets, particularly secrets about things of one's own doing, is a tough proposition for even very bright people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/keeping-big-secrets-particularly-secrets-about-things-of-one-s-own/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Quiet men keep secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-elias/quiet-men-keep-secrets/) [Martin Elias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-elias/) > [One of the big secrets of finding time is not to watch television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-keeshan/one-of-the-big-secrets-of-finding-time-is-not-to-watch-television/) [Bob Keeshan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-keeshan/) > [“Big secrets were catastrophic. 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Until, of course, we remember who we are and what we did and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/our-ex-wifes-always-harbour-secrets-about-us-that-make-them/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [Secrets make for good drama, and revealing the hidden truths and contradictions of life is, for me, one of the most exciting aspects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-sachs/secrets-make-for-good-drama-and-revealing-the-hidden-truths-and/) [Ira Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-sachs/) > [You cannot help the small men, by tearing down the big men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-h-boetcker/you-cannot-help-the-small-men-by-tearing-down-the-big-men/) [William J. H. Boetcker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-h-boetcker/) ## More by Fredrik Backman > [“So she bowed her head and devoted herself to Beartown’s real traditional sports: shame and silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/so-she-bowed-her-head-and-devoted-herself-to-beartown-s-real/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“If Peter has learned one thing about human nature during all his years in hockey, it’s that almost everyone regards themselves as a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/if-peter-has-learned-one-thing-about-human-nature-during-all-his/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“That’s what parents often do, I think, we persuade ourselves we’re doing everything for the sake of the child. It’s too painful to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/that-s-what-parents-often-do-i-think-we-persuade-ourselves-we-re/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Uve je dobro znao da njeni prijatelji nisu shvatali zbog čega se onda svakog jutra budila sa odlukom da provede dan sa njim. Nije…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/uve-je-dobro-znao-da-njeni-prijatelji-nisu-shvatali-zbog-ega-se-onda/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Somebody has one of the worst hairstyles Britt-Marie has ever laid eyes on, as if she’s combed her hair with a terrified animal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/somebody-has-one-of-the-worst-hairstyles-britt-marie-has-ever-laid/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/hate-can-be-a-deeply-stimulating-emotion-the-world-becomes-easier-to/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Another morning comes. It always does. Time always moves at the same rate, only feelings have different speeds. Every day can mark a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/another-morning-comes-it-always-does-time-always-moves-at-the-same/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“The girl glances at the surface of the desk, which looks as if toddlers have been trying to eat potatoes off it. With pitchforks.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/the-girl-glances-at-the-surface-of-the-desk-which-looks-as-if/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Mnogim ljudima je teško da žive sa nekim ko ceni samoću. To neprijatno žulja one koji nisu i sami takvi.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/mnogim-ljudima-je-te-ko-da-ive-sa-nekim-ko-ceni-samo-u-to-neprijatno/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“But his taste buds are as dysfunctional as the volume control on his voice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/but-his-taste-buds-are-as-dysfunctional-as-the-volume-control-on-his/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Throughout their childhood Maya loved her best friend because she wasn’t like any other girl she had met, but life as a teenager seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/throughout-their-childhood-maya-loved-her-best-friend-because-she/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“For more than half a century they belonged to one another. She detested the same characteristics in him that last day as she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/for-more-than-half-a-century-they-belonged-to-one-another-she/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“His heart is too big.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/his-heart-is-too-big/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Back in the days when there were still things to boast about, the city council erected a sign beside the road at the entrance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/back-in-the-days-when-there-were-still-things-to-boast-about-the-city/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“And after all those hours in the locker room, all those nights on the team bus, all the conversations and all the jokes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/and-after-all-those-hours-in-the-locker-room-all-those-nights-on-the/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) [Explore all 320 Fredrik Backman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) ## More Secrets quotes > [“Fuck, baby. I can hear it. I hear all your beautiful secrets in my name. I want them. I want you. All of you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian-bane/fuck-baby-i-can-hear-it-i-hear-all-your-beautiful-secrets-in-my-name/) [Lucian Bane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian-bane/) > [Women know things that men will never know. We keep the best secrets. We tell the best stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/women-know-things-that-men-will-never-know-we-keep-the-best-secrets/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [Every person has at least one secret that will break your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana/every-person-has-at-least-one-secret-that-will-break-your-heart/) [AnA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana/) > [“It hardly needs to be said: sooner or later secrets have a way of making themselves known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-hardly-needs-to-be-said-sooner-or-later-secrets-have-a-way-of/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“People always knew more than you gave them credit for. Perhaps, in the end, no one had any secrets at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-russell/people-always-knew-more-than-you-gave-them-credit-for-perhaps-in-the/) [Paul Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-russell/) > [Some secrets are better left at that -as secrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candace-bushnell/some-secrets-are-better-left-at-that-as-secrets/) [Candace Bushnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candace-bushnell/) > [“You can never let your compassion stand in the way of justice because when you do, other people get hurt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/you-can-never-let-your-compassion-stand-in-the-way-of-justice-because/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“There are plenty of secrets I would like to know about you, Daphne.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-hodnett/there-are-plenty-of-secrets-i-would-like-to-know-about-you-daphne/) [Brenda Hodnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-hodnett/) > [The value of secrets is ever fluctuating although ladies who have been in society for a long time learn that a secret kept can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-godbersen/the-value-of-secrets-is-ever-fluctuating-although-ladies-who-have/) [Anna Godbersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-godbersen/) > [I wonder if it's ever really possible to know the truth about someone else, or if the best we can do is just stumble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wonder-if-it-s-ever-really-possible-to-know-the-truth-about-someone/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“The secrets eternal neither you know nor I And answers to the riddle neither you know nor I Behind the veil there is much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/the-secrets-eternal-neither-you-know-nor-i-and-answers-to-the-riddle/) [Omar Khayyám](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) > [“Life, like love, holds many secrets for us to discover. Some we unearth early on. Others take us most of our days to stumble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-l-pickering-jr/life-like-love-holds-many-secrets-for-us-to-discover-some-we-unearth/) [Roy L. Pickering Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-l-pickering-jr/) > [The reality is that the work I do is not private work. I bring all my secrets, my life, to my work. Anybody who's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-garcia/the-reality-is-that-the-work-i-do-is-not-private-work-i-bring-all-my/) [Andy Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-garcia/) > [“I know the names of every intelligent being, the spots on the wings of every butterfly that broke out of a cocoon, the genetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/i-know-the-names-of-every-intelligent-being-the-spots-on-the-wings-of/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) [Browse all 2,415 Secrets quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re the men others have to keep secrets from.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fredrik Backman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especially-when-we-re-the-men-others/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Secrets" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especially-when-we-re-the-men-others/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/525/fredrik-backman-857_secrets_big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especia_583061.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re the men others have to keep secrets from.” — Fredrik Backman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fredrik Backman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Big secrets make small men of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especially-when-we-re-the-men-others/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especially-when-we-re-the-men-others/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```