--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This man had something to hide, some…" description: "\"“This man had something to hide, some shame in his past, and those with a past can always be bought.”\" — Ian Rankin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg" --- # This man had something to hide, some shame in his past… ![“This man had something to hide, some shame in his past, and those with a past can always be bought.” quote by Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg) > ““This man had something to hide, some shame in his past, and those with a past can always be bought.”” [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People with hidden pasts are vulnerable to manipulation and can be bought. **In simple terms:** Secrets make individuals susceptible to bribery. Key Takeaway Guard personal history and be wary of those who exploit it. Themes secrecy manipulation vulnerability Mood cautious skeptical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - political negotiations - corporate espionage - personal relationships Key Concepts psychology ethics power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can protect against blackmail? A Different Perspective Not everyone with a past is easily bought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concealment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concealment/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Hide Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hide-shame-2012405/) [Man Hide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-hide-1297725/) [Past Bought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-bought-3800442/) [Past Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-past/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Shame Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame-past-845940/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Past all shame, so past all truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/past-all-shame-so-past-all-truth/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I have a lot of -- I struggle with a lot of shame over my past. There have been times when I've been incredibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/traci-lords/i-have-a-lot-of-i-struggle-with-a-lot-of-shame-over-my-past-there/) [Traci Lords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/traci-lords/) > [“the disgust that exists indelibly between men and women and that you are always trying to purge with what you call frankness. As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/the-disgust-that-exists-indelibly-between-men-and-women-and-that-you/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [He who loves is not ashamed before men of what he does for God, neither does he hide it through shame though the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/he-who-loves-is-not-ashamed-before-men-of-what-he-does-for-god/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [Afraid to let your secrets out Everything that you hide Can come crashing through the door now But too scared to face all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenth-avenue-north/afraid-to-let-your-secrets-out-everything-that-you-hide-can-come/) [Tenth Avenue North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenth-avenue-north/) > [“If you don't have the grace and wit to die early, you are forced to vanish, to hide as if in shame and apology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/if-you-don-t-have-the-grace-and-wit-to-die-early-you-are-forced-to/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“A blanket could be used to hide my shame and cover my insecurities. But so could a camouflaged condom. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/a-blanket-could-be-used-to-hide-my-shame-and-cover-my-insecurities/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Always be yourself. never try to hide who you are. the only shame is to have shame. always stand up for what you believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-be-yourself-never-try-to-hide-who-you-are-the-only-shame-is-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The cosmos is about the smallest hole that a man can hide his head in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-cosmos-is-about-the-smallest-hole-that-a-man-can-hide-his-head-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Breathes there a man with hide so tough Who says two sexes aren't enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hoffenstein/breathes-there-a-man-with-hide-so-tough-who-says-two-sexes-aren-t/) [Samuel Hoffenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hoffenstein/) > [“Only a man with nothing to hide could make that kind of racket.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/only-a-man-with-nothing-to-hide-could-make-that-kind-of-racket/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“Where does a wise man hide a pebble?" And the tall man answered in a low voice: "On the beach." The small man nodded,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/where-does-a-wise-man-hide-a-pebble-and-the-tall-man-answered-in-a/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“It's hard for a masked man to hide behind a mask when he isn't wearing one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-suggs/it-s-hard-for-a-masked-man-to-hide-behind-a-mask-when-he-isn-t/) [Lionel Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-suggs/) > [O' What may man within him hide, though angel on the outward side!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-what-may-man-within-him-hide-though-angel-on-the-outward-side/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Two things only a man cannot hide, that he is drunk and that he is in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/two-things-only-a-man-cannot-hide-that-he-is-drunk-and-that-he-is-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Ian Rankin > [You need a great idea, but then you've got to carry it through. If you get it right, you're going to be a critical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/you-need-a-great-idea-but-then-you-ve-got-to-carry-it-through-if-you/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [In 1991, I won the Chandler Fulbright Prize, which came with $20,000 and the stipulation of spending six months in the U.S.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/in-1991-i-won-the-chandler-fulbright-prize-which-came-with-20-000-and/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [When I was in my early 20s and still at uni, I won a short-story competition: £200 was the prize.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/when-i-was-in-my-early-20s-and-still-at-uni-i-won-a-short-story/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [“Down Where the Drunkards Roll.” “How”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/down-where-the-drunkards-roll-how/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [“1446, that's when the foundations were laid. 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Every Friday, the pay packet money would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/my-mother-worked-in-a-school-canteen-then-worked-in-the-canteen-of-a/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [I am, of course, a frustrated rock star - I'd much rather be a rock star than a writer. Or own a record shop.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/i-am-of-course-a-frustrated-rock-star-i-d-much-rather-be-a-rock-star/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [I don't want the books to become PR exercises for the police; I want to have the freedom to write about cops who cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/i-don-t-want-the-books-to-become-pr-exercises-for-the-police-i-want/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [“...despite rumors to the contrary, you're on the side of the angels. (...) Whether you like it or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/despite-rumors-to-the-contrary-you-re-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [Rebus was eating breakfast in the canteen and wishing there was more caffeine in the coffee, or more coffee in the coffee come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/rebus-was-eating-breakfast-in-the-canteen-and-wishing-there-was-more/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [I would have loved to have been a rock n' roll star. But none of us was musical, and none of us had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/i-would-have-loved-to-have-been-a-rock-n-roll-star-but-none-of-us-was/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [I don't hang out with cops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/i-don-t-hang-out-with-cops/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) > [ \[About a tiresome colleague\]: He could bore for Scotland. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/about-a-tiresome-colleague-he-could-bore-for-scotland/) [Ian Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) [Explore all 85 Ian Rankin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/) ## More Concealment quotes > [Camouflage is about much more than concealment and going unnoticed. There's a whole game involved between revealing and hiding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raf-simons/camouflage-is-about-much-more-than-concealment-and-going-unnoticed/) [Raf Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raf-simons/) > [The member of a culture ... purposely avoids the relationship of intimacy; he wants the object somehow depicted and fictionalized. ... He is embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/the-member-of-a-culture-purposely-avoids-the-relationship-of-intimacy/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [“Every philosophy is a foreground philosophy — that is a hermit's judgment: "There is something arbitrary in his stopping here to look back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-philosophy-is-a-foreground-philosophy-that-is-a-hermit-s/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-very-word-secrecy-is-repugnant-in-a-free-and-open-society-and-we/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [“women are so suspicious of any interest that has not some obvious motive behind it, so terribly accustomed to concealment and suppression, that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/women-are-so-suspicious-of-any-interest-that-has-not-some-obvious/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Insofar as it represents a genuine reconciliation of differences, a consensus is a fine thing; insofar as it represents a concealment of differences, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/insofar-as-it-represents-a-genuine-reconciliation-of-differences-a/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [“It is axiomatic that the attempt to become a Sufi through a desire for personal power as normally understood will not succeed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/it-is-axiomatic-that-the-attempt-to-become-a-sufi-through-a-desire/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [The purpose of polite behavior is never virtuous. Deceit, surrender, and concealment these are not virtues. The goal of the mannerly is comfort, per…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/the-purpose-of-polite-behavior-is-never-virtuous-deceit-surrender-and/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [Factory farming, like comparable evils throughout history, depends for its existence upon concealment. It depends on people either not noticing or willfully averting their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-scully/factory-farming-like-comparable-evils-throughout-history-depends-for/) [Matthew Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-scully/) > [To succeed in the other trades, capacity must be shown; in the law, concealment of it will do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-succeed-in-the-other-trades-capacity-must-be-shown-in-the-law/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The cautious wolf fears the pit, the hawk regards with suspicion the snare laid for her, and the fish the hook in its concealment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-cautious-wolf-fears-the-pit-the-hawk-regards-with-suspicion-the/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For a wrongdoer to be undetected is difficult; and for him to have confidence that his concealment will continue is impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/for-a-wrongdoer-to-be-undetected-is-difficult-and-for-him-to-have/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [I could only relax when there was just one tiny white last spot left. I could see more clearly. I could grasp the shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnulf-rainer/i-could-only-relax-when-there-was-just-one-tiny-white-last-spot-left/) [Arnulf Rainer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnulf-rainer/) > [I believe that the public temper is such that the voters of the land are prepared to support the party which gives the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-cleveland/i-believe-that-the-public-temper-is-such-that-the-voters-of-the-land/) [Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/) > [And when a woman's will is as strong as the man's who wants to govern her, half her strength must be concealment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-when-a-woman-s-will-is-as-strong-as-the-man-s-who-wants-to-govern/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Browse all 69 Concealment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concealment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This man had something to hide, some shame in his past, and those with a past can always be bought.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian Rankin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-shame-in-his-past-and-those-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Concealment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-shame-in-his-past-and-those-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/ian-rankin-7748_concealment_this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-sham_2851886.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This man had something to hide, some shame in his past, and those with a past can always be bought.” — Ian Rankin", "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": "Ian Rankin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-rankin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This man had something to hide,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-shame-in-his-past-and-those-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-rankin/this-man-had-something-to-hide-some-shame-in-his-past-and-those-with/#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 } } ] } ```