--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Keeping big secrets, particularly secrets…" description: "\"“Keeping big secrets, particularly secrets about things of one's own doing, is a tough proposition for even very bright people.”\" — Kurt Vonnegut" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/kurt-vonnegut-41_secret_keeping-big-secrets-particularly-secrets_2308332.jpg" --- # Keeping big secrets, particularly secrets about things of… ![“Keeping big secrets, particularly secrets about things of one's own doing, is a tough proposition for even very bright people.” quote by Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/kurt-vonnegut-41_secret_keeping-big-secrets-particularly-secrets_2308332.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/kurt-vonnegut-41_secret_keeping-big-secrets-particularly-secrets_2308332.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/kurt-vonnegut-41_secret_keeping-big-secrets-particularly-secrets_2308332.jpg) > ““Keeping big secrets, particularly secrets about things of one's own doing, is a tough proposition for even very bright people.”” [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Keeping secrets about one's own actions is difficult even for intelligent people because it creates cognitive dissonance and moral strain. **In simple terms:** Secrets about one's deeds are hard to keep. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address your actions openly. Themes ethics psychology integrity Mood reflective serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - workplace - legal matters Key Concepts cognitive dissonance self‑deception Questions to Reflect On - How do secrets affect your sense of self? - What risks arise from hiding your own mistakes? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) ## 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/) > [“Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we’re the men others have to keep secrets from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/big-secrets-make-small-men-of-us-especially-when-we-re-the-men-others/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [“Big secrets were catastrophic. 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There aren't any hidden secrets or things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/you-don-t-have-to-know-anything-about-art-to-appreciate-it-or-to-look/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” —Mexican proverb There are some secrets we don’t share because they’re embarrassing. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/they-tried-to-bury-us-they-didn-t-know-we-were-seeds-mexican-proverb/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [Many things which are called 'secrets' are only things withheld from people until they can understand or effectively experience them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/many-things-which-are-called-secrets-are-only-things-withheld-from/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“In life, we have secrets, things we regret, dreams we can’t reach and a love that we will never forget.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reviandari-azmi/in-life-we-have-secrets-things-we-regret-dreams-we-can-t-reach-and-a/) ReviAndari Azmi > [After all, everybody has secrets and there are some things that nobody knows about you but only you, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/halle-berry/after-all-everybody-has-secrets-and-there-are-some-things-that-nobody/) [Halle Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/halle-berry/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Kurt Vonnegut > [“You must bloom as a writer and I must bloom as a painter. Everything else about us is uninteresting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-must-bloom-as-a-writer-and-i-must-bloom-as-a-painter-everything/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“People aren't supposed to look back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/people-aren-t-supposed-to-look-back/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Have a good nap, did you?” said the porter. “Yes,” said Billy. “Man,” said the porter, “you sure had a hard-on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/have-a-good-nap-did-you-said-the-porter-yes-said-billy-man-said-the/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I told him that if we doubted that we are demons in Hell, he should read The Mysterious Stranger, which Mark Twain wrote in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-told-him-that-if-we-doubted-that-we-are-demons-in-hell-he-should/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [ “Thomas Jefferson High School \[..\] His high school was named after a slave owner who was also one of the world’s greatest theoreticians on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/thomas-jefferson-high-school-his-high-school-was-named-after-a-slave/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I had a certain amount of skill as a dramatist, and Dr. Goebbels wanted me to use it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-had-a-certain-amount-of-skill-as-a-dramatist-and-dr-goebbels-wanted/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. 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And if,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/someday-someday-this-crazy-world-will-have-to-end-and-our-god-will/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“They were going back to the slaughterhouse for souvenirs of the war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/they-were-going-back-to-the-slaughterhouse-for-souvenirs-of-the-war/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“There are plenty of good reasons for fighting," I said, "but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/there-are-plenty-of-good-reasons-for-fighting-i-said-but-no-good/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) [Explore all 2,089 Kurt Vonnegut quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## More Secret quotes > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [“By so giving up, of course, it renews itself- that is the secret”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/by-so-giving-up-of-course-it-renews-itself-that-is-the-secret/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/the-cia-has-concluded-in-a-secret-assessment-that-russia-intervened/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [I have a lot of secret uses for sour cream, which is the magic ingredient in my mac and cheese. 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