--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The secret is that there is no secret." description: "\"The secret is that there is no secret.\" — Lionel Shriver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg" --- # The secret is that there is no secret. ![“The secret is that there is no secret.” quote by Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg) > “The secret is that there is no secret.” [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The claim suggests that what we call “secrets” are simply unknowns, demystifying hidden knowledge. **In simple terms:** There is no real secret, just unknown information. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge, not mystique. Themes knowledge transparency truth Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical insightful When to use this quote - research - investigations - personal revelations Key Concepts philosophy critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - Why do we cling to the idea of secrets? - When is secrecy beneficial? A Different Perspective Some secrets hold protective value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) ## Related quotes > [The secret, which is not so secret after all, is that the people who we love live on in our hearts, in the beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-j-rose/the-secret-which-is-not-so-secret-after-all-is-that-the-people-who-we/) [M.J. Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-j-rose/) > [“A secret's a secret because you don't let people in on it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-secret-s-a-secret-because-you-don-t-let-people-in-on-it/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“A secret's only a secret as long as you keep it. Once you tell someone it loses all its power -- for good or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/a-secret-s-only-a-secret-as-long-as-you-keep-it-once-you-tell-someone/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“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/) > [Funny how I keep my love for you a secret. Its a secret as mysterious as the 11 herbs and spices used in KFC chicken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-me-ez/funny-how-i-keep-my-love-for-you-a-secret-its-a-secret-as-mysterious/) Denise Meñez > [If you tell a friend a secret, she will keep the secret by telling only one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-birnbach/if-you-tell-a-friend-a-secret-she-will-keep-the-secret-by-telling/) [Lisa Birnbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-birnbach/) > [This is the secret, THE secret ... De-automatize.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-the-secret-the-secret-de-automatize/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I really don't have any secrets. I've never met a photographer whose work I respected that had a secret because the secret lies within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sexton/i-really-don-t-have-any-secrets-i-ve-never-met-a-photographer-whose/) [John Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sexton/) > [It was their secret, a secret meant for just the two of them, and she'd never been able to imagine how it would sound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/it-was-their-secret-a-secret-meant-for-just-the-two-of-them-and-she-d/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [A secret is a secret in my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-craig/a-secret-is-a-secret-in-my-mind/) [Daniel Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-craig/) > [“I'm going to tell you a secret. A secret I've never told anybody. I, Ignazio Vitale, have always been afraid of the dark. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/i-m-going-to-tell-you-a-secret-a-secret-i-ve-never-told-anybody-i/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-arbus/a-picture-is-a-secret-about-a-secret-the-more-it-tells-you-the-less/) [Diane Arbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-arbus/) > [After I won in Beijing I chatted with a lot of Indian athletes and they were interested and keen to know what I did.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhinav-bindra/after-i-won-in-beijing-i-chatted-with-a-lot-of-indian-athletes-and/) [Abhinav Bindra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhinav-bindra/) > [Sometimes when we think we are keeping a secret, the secret is actually keeping us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-warren/sometimes-when-we-think-we-are-keeping-a-secret-the-secret-is/) [Frank Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-warren/) > [A woman can keep one secret - the secret of her age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-woman-can-keep-one-secret-the-secret-of-her-age/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Lionel Shriver > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. Deprive them of it, and they go a bit barking. Deprive them of news long enough, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-m-a-journalist-and-journalists-need-news-deprive-them-of-it-and/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“One of the things I learned with Charles," said Gray carefully, "was that finding someone like you does not necessarily mean that either of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/one-of-the-things-i-learned-with-charles-said-gray-carefully-was-that/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting. Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-the-particular-dwells-the-tawdry-in-the-conceptual-dwells-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“The idea is that you don't only have one destiny. Younger and younger, kids are pressed to decide what they want to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-idea-is-that-you-don-t-only-have-one-destiny-younger-and-younger/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Oddly, for a book to do well merely because people like it is surprisingly rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/oddly-for-a-book-to-do-well-merely-because-people-like-it-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“And there's a freedom in apathy, a wild, dizzying liberation on which you can almost get drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/and-there-s-a-freedom-in-apathy-a-wild-dizzying-liberation-on-which/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The sign that I don't like the book I'm reading is finding myself watching reruns of 'Come Dine With Me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-sign-that-i-don-t-like-the-book-i-m-reading-is-finding-myself/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [We speak often of 'destroying the planet' when what we mean is destroying its habitability for humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/we-speak-often-of-destroying-the-planet-when-what-we-mean-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [My agent had warned that, while a fine film would do my profile a world of good, a bad one wouldn't help me at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/my-agent-had-warned-that-while-a-fine-film-would-do-my-profile-a/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I think that's the biggest favor you can grant anyone, don't you? 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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. It's an old-timey, Southern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-deen/i-have-a-lot-of-secret-uses-for-sour-cream-which-is-the-magic/) [Paula Deen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-deen/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [It is no secret that I have read 'The Da Vinci Code' several times. I genuinely believe that 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/it-is-no-secret-that-i-have-read-the-da-vinci-code-several-times-i/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [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/) > [A place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/a-place-has-almost-the-shyness-of-a-person-with-strangers-and-its/) [Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/) > [When I talked to him earlier, he said he had to work tonight,” Peter explained, “but that we should go ahead and draw for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/when-i-talked-to-him-earlier-he-said-he-had-to-work-tonight-peter/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [ No wonder that Churchill described this effort \[the British codebreakers working at Bletchley Park\] as "Britian"s secret weapon," a weapon far more effective than… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hilton/no-wonder-that-churchill-described-this-effort-the-british/) [Peter Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hilton/) > [I don't know if it's naivete or just narcissism, but I start out with this notion that I can do anything. It's not until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-pfeiffer/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-naivete-or-just-narcissism-but-i-start-out-with/) [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-pfeiffer/) > [Children, Never look Back!" and this meant that we must never allow the future to be weighed down by memory . for children have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/children-never-look-back-and-this-meant-that-we-must-never-allow-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) [Browse all 8,958 Secret quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The secret is that there is no secret.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lionel Shriver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Secret" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/055/lionel-shriver-744_secret_the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret-10_1033187.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The secret is that there is no secret.” — Lionel Shriver", "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": "Lionel Shriver", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The secret is that there is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-secret-is-that-there-is-no-secret/#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 } } ] } ```