--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Words were not given to man in order to…" description: "\"Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts.\" — Jose Saramago" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png" --- # Words were not given to man in order to conceal his… ![“Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts.” quote by Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png) > “Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts.” [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement suggests language is meant to express thoughts openly, not to hide them, implying honesty in communication. **In simple terms:** Language reveals thoughts, not conceals them. Key Takeaway Encourage transparent expression in dialogue. Themes honesty language communication Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - public speaking - conflict resolution Key Concepts philosophy literary insight expression Questions to Reflect On - When is it appropriate to conceal thoughts? - How does cultural context affect openness? A Different Perspective May ignore contexts where privacy is essential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conceal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conceal/) [Conceal Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conceal-thoughts-444649/) [Given Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-man-936858/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) [Words Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-given-302234/) ## Related quotes > [“Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-maurice-de-talleyrand/speech-was-given-to-man-to-conceal-his-thoughts/) [Charles Maurice De Talleyrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-maurice-de-talleyrand/) > [Don't think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/don-t-think-you-are-going-to-conceal-thoughts-by-concealing-evidence/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [You can give words, but you can't take them. And when words are given, that is when they are shared. We remember what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-can-give-words-but-you-can-t-take-them-and-when-words-are-given/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [I cannot tell and I shall never know how many words of mine might have given birth to cruelty in place of love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/i-cannot-tell-and-i-shall-never-know-how-many-words-of-mine-might/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [“I want to apologize to you,” she says calmly. “Oh yeah? For what?” I don’t have time for this. We don’t have time for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-want-to-apologize-to-you-she-says-calmly-oh-yeah-for-what-i-don-t/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Karma," he said once, "is not a sentence already printed. It is a series of words the author can arrange as she choses." Love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gran/karma-he-said-once-is-not-a-sentence-already-printed-it-is-a-series/) [Sara Gran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gran/) > [Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts, Or carry smiles and sunshine in my face, When discontent sits heavy at my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/tis-not-my-talent-to-conceal-my-thoughts-or-carry-smiles-and-sunshine/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [When everything on the board is clear it can be so difficult to conceal your thoughts from your opponent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bronstein/when-everything-on-the-board-is-clear-it-can-be-so-difficult-to/) [David Bronstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bronstein/) > [“Speech is the faculty by which men conceal their thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talleyrand/speech-is-the-faculty-by-which-men-conceal-their-thoughts/) [Talleyrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talleyrand/) > [Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-as-authority-for-their-injustice-and-employ/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I knew the mass of men conceal'd Their thoughts, for fear that if reveal'd They would by other men be met With blank indifference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/i-knew-the-mass-of-men-conceal-d-their-thoughts-for-fear-that-if/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Alas! is even love too weak To unlock the heart, and let it speak? Are even lovers powerless to reveal To one another what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/alas-is-even-love-too-weak-to-unlock-the-heart-and-let-it-speak-are/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Don't join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/don-t-join-the-book-burners-do-not-think-you-are-going-to-conceal/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [God gave humans language so they could conceal their thoughts from one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-maurice-de-talleyrand/god-gave-humans-language-so-they-could-conceal-their-thoughts-from/) [Charles Maurice de Talleyrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-maurice-de-talleyrand/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Jose Saramago > [“We are born, and at that moment, it is as if we had signed a pact for the rest of our life, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/we-are-born-and-at-that-moment-it-is-as-if-we-had-signed-a-pact-for/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [It takes little or nothing to undo reputations, the merest trifle makes and remakes them, it is simply a question of finding the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/it-takes-little-or-nothing-to-undo-reputations-the-merest-trifle/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [One can show no greater respect than to weep for a stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/one-can-show-no-greater-respect-than-to-weep-for-a-stranger/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I am not a prophet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-am-not-a-prophet/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [With the passage of time, as well as the social evolution and genetic exchange, we ended up putting our conscience in the color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/with-the-passage-of-time-as-well-as-the-social-evolution-and-genetic/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Al día siguiente no murió nadie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/al-d-a-siguiente-no-muri-nadie/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“E se as histórias para crianças passassem a ser de leitura obrigatória para os adultos? Seriam eles capazes de aprender realmente o que há…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/e-se-as-hist-rias-para-crian-as-passassem-a-ser-de-leitura-obrigat/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [In a king, modesty would be a sign of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/in-a-king-modesty-would-be-a-sign-of-weakness/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“the inmates of the second ward in the right wing have decided, at long last, to bury their dead, at least we shall be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-inmates-of-the-second-ward-in-the-right-wing-have-decided-at-long/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Stretching one arm behind him, the man passed his hand over the horse's coat, his own skin transformed, or skin which had transformed into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/stretching-one-arm-behind-him-the-man-passed-his-hand-over-the-horse/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I think we are blind. Blind people who can see, but do not see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-think-we-are-blind-blind-people-who-can-see-but-do-not-see/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [...you have to leave the island in order to see the island, that we can't see ourselves unless we become free of ourselves, Unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/you-have-to-leave-the-island-in-order-to-see-the-island-that-we-can-t/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [anyone who gets up early by inclination or has been forced to rise early out of necessity finds it intolerable that others should go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/anyone-who-gets-up-early-by-inclination-or-has-been-forced-to-rise/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Society has to change, but the political powers we have at the moment are not enough to effect this change. The whole democratic system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/society-has-to-change-but-the-political-powers-we-have-at-the-moment/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“... aborrece os odores nocturnos, aquelas expansões do corpo a que nem poetas escapam".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/aborrece-os-odores-nocturnos-aquelas-expans-es-do-corpo-a-que-nem/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) [Explore all 487 Jose Saramago quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## More Conceal quotes > [We reveal our joys and successes, we conceal our pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-reveal-our-joys-and-successes-we-conceal-our-pain/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [It requires as much to tell the truth as to conceal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-requires-as-much-to-tell-the-truth-as-to-conceal-it/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [The more identities a man has, the more they express the person they conceal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/the-more-identities-a-man-has-the-more-they-express-the-person-they/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [It is always a poor way of reading the hearts of others to try to conceal our own. \[Fr., C'est toujours un mauvais moyen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/it-is-always-a-poor-way-of-reading-the-hearts-of-others-to-try-to/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Nothing more powerfully excites any affection than to conceal some part of its object, by throwing it into a kind of shade, whichat the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/nothing-more-powerfully-excites-any-affection-than-to-conceal-some/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [When you got nothing, you got nothin' to lose You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/when-you-got-nothing-you-got-nothin-to-lose-you-re-invisible-now-you/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Speech was given to the ordinary sort or men, whereby to communicate their mind; but to wise men, whereby to conceal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-south/speech-was-given-to-the-ordinary-sort-or-men-whereby-to-communicate/) [Robert South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-south/) > [Our friends don't see our faults, or conceal them, or soften them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/our-friends-don-t-see-our-faults-or-conceal-them-or-soften-them/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There are some occasions in which a man must tell half his secret, in order to conceal the rest: but there is seldom one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/there-are-some-occasions-in-which-a-man-must-tell-half-his-secret-in/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [It is art to conceal art. -Ars est celare artem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-art-to-conceal-art-ars-est-celare-artem/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The greatest part of our faults are more excusable than the methods that are commonly taken to conceal them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-greatest-part-of-our-faults-are-more-excusable-than-the-methods/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Everyone can know what is in my heart because I find it hard to conceal myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/everyone-can-know-what-is-in-my-heart-because-i-find-it-hard-to/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [The same words conceal and declare the thoughts of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-same-words-conceal-and-declare-the-thoughts-of-men/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/a-woman-especially-if-she-have-the-misfortune-of-knowing-anything/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Men conceal the past scenes of their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/men-conceal-the-past-scenes-of-their-lives/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) [Browse all 128 Conceal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conceal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jose Saramago" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to-conceal-his-thoughts/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conceal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to-conceal-his-thoughts/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/jos-saramago-208_conceal_words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to_1608330.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts.” — Jose Saramago", "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": "Jose Saramago", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Words were not given to man...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to-conceal-his-thoughts/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/words-were-not-given-to-man-in-order-to-conceal-his-thoughts/#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 } } ] } ```