--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A real secret is something which only one…" description: "\"A real secret is something which only one person knows.\" — Idries Shah" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg" --- # A real secret is something which only one person knows. ![“A real secret is something which only one person knows.” quote by Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg) > “A real secret is something which only one person knows.” [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A secret is valuable because it is known only to one, creating exclusivity and power. **In simple terms:** Secrets are valuable due to exclusivity. Key Takeaway Guard secrets wisely. Themes secrecy power knowledge Mood mysterious cautious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - politics - personal relationships - corporate strategy Key Concepts exclusivity trust information control Questions to Reflect On - Why do we keep secrets? - What are the ethical limits of secrecy? A Different Perspective Secrets can be misused for manipulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Person Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-knows/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-secret-355255/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secret Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-person-1981670/) ## Related quotes > [“Too many people were finding things out about you—you needed to be more careful, but you didn’t seem worried. A secret is only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-forrest/too-many-people-were-finding-things-out-about-you-you-needed-to-be/) [Bella Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-forrest/) > [The real secret of magic lies in the performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/the-real-secret-of-magic-lies-in-the-performance/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [No one ever confides a secret to one person only. No one destroys all copies of a document.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/no-one-ever-confides-a-secret-to-one-person-only-no-one-destroys-all/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [There is a secret person undamaged in every individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/there-is-a-secret-person-undamaged-in-every-individual/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [A secret is for one person cause the moment you share it with someone its no longer one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markson-bero/a-secret-is-for-one-person-cause-the-moment-you-share-it-with-someone/) [Markson Bero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markson-bero/) > [Hey! wanna know a secret? well there is this person that I love with all my heart and they're reading this right now!(:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hey-wanna-know-a-secret-well-there-is-this-person-that-i-love-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The secret of a person's success is discovered in their daily agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/the-secret-of-a-person-s-success-is-discovered-in-their-daily-agenda/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-taylor/the-real-secret-of-an-unsatisfied-life-lies-too-often-in-an/) [Hudson Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-taylor/) > [The real secret of patience is to find something to do in the meantime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-larson/the-real-secret-of-patience-is-to-find-something-to-do-in-the-meantime/) [Doug Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-larson/) > [“But secrets never, ever disappear, even after they are revealed. And that's the real secret right there. The empty space that never gets filled.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lavigne/but-secrets-never-ever-disappear-even-after-they-are-revealed-and/) [Michael Lavigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lavigne/) > [The real secret to total gorgeousness is to believe in yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-dunst/the-real-secret-to-total-gorgeousness-is-to-believe-in-yourself/) [Kirsten Dunst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-dunst/) > [The real secret of magic is that the world is made of words, and that if you know the words that the world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-real-secret-of-magic-is-that-the-world-is-made-of-words-and-that/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The real secret of success is enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-chrysler/the-real-secret-of-success-is-enthusiasm/) [Walter Chrysler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-chrysler/) > [Reality's all you've got. But here's the real secret, the real miracle: it's enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/reality-s-all-you-ve-got-but-here-s-the-real-secret-the-real-miracle/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [The real secret of happiness is not what you have or what you receive; it's what you share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-secret-of-happiness-is-not-what-you-have-or-what-you-receive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Idries Shah > [“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/to-be-a-sufi-is-to-detach-from-fixed-ideas-and-from-preconceptions/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Teach honesty by all means - you do know what it is, don't you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/teach-honesty-by-all-means-you-do-know-what-it-is-don-t-you/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Sufism is transmitted by means of the human exemplar, the teacher.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/sufism-is-transmitted-by-means-of-the-human-exemplar-the-teacher/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“No existe práctica en aislamiento.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/no-existe-pr-ctica-en-aislamiento/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [A king who feared wasps once decreed that they were abolished. As it happened, they did him no harm. But he was eventually stung…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/a-king-who-feared-wasps-once-decreed-that-they-were-abolished-as-it/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Do not tell your secrets to everyone in this headquarters, Earth. We have surveyed it well. There was nobody to whom to entrust secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/do-not-tell-your-secrets-to-everyone-in-this-headquarters-earth-we/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Sufis are those who have expunged from their minds the human tendencies of envy and enmity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/sufis-are-those-who-have-expunged-from-their-minds-the-human/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Yes, the world is an illusion. But Truth is always being shown there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/yes-the-world-is-an-illusion-but-truth-is-always-being-shown-there/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/it-is-the-message-not-the-man-which-is-important-to-the-sufis/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/the-human-being-whether-he-realises-it-or-not-is-trusting-someone-or/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Who is the wrong person to criticise? You”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/who-is-the-wrong-person-to-criticise-you/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“You may be able to get the bone down your throat But if it reaches your stomach it will tear your navel. (Gulistan)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/you-may-be-able-to-get-the-bone-down-your-throat-but-if-it-reaches/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“People are always trying to understand. There is only one way to do that. It is to discover < + i + >why< +…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/people-are-always-trying-to-understand-there-is-only-one-way-to-do/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [We view Sufism not as an ideology that molds people to the right way of belief or action, but as an art or science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/we-view-sufism-not-as-an-ideology-that-molds-people-to-the-right-way/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) [Explore all 365 Idries Shah quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) ## More Knows quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) > [He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-knows-does-not-speak-he-who-speaks-does-not-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) [Browse all 53,133 Knows quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A real secret is something which only one person knows.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Idries Shah" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-one-person-knows/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-one-person-knows/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/idries-shah-450_persons_a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-on_1795141.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A real secret is something which only one person knows.” — Idries Shah", "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": "Idries Shah", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A real secret is something which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-one-person-knows/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/a-real-secret-is-something-which-only-one-person-knows/#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 } } ] } ```