--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The words secret and sacred are siblings." description: "\"The words secret and sacred are siblings.\" — Mary Ruefle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png" --- # The words secret and sacred are siblings. ![“The words secret and sacred are siblings.” quote by Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png) > “The words secret and sacred are siblings.” [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The concepts of 'secret' and 'sacred' are closely linked, both hidden and revered. **In simple terms:** Secrets and sacred things share hidden, revered nature. Key Takeaway Respect the mystery in both. Themes mystery reverence language Mood thoughtful contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - rituals - personal reflection - confidential matters - artistic creation Key Concepts philosophy spirituality Questions to Reflect On - What makes something sacred versus secret? - Can a secret be sacred? A Different Perspective Overemphasis may blur practical distinctions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brotherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brotherhood/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Sacred Siblings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred-siblings-4902181/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secret Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-sacred-1644444/) [Sibling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sibling/) [Words Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-secret-4902182/) ## Related quotes > [The secret and the sacred are sisters. When the secret is not respected, the sacred vanishes. Consequently, reflection should not shine too severe or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-donohue/the-secret-and-the-sacred-are-sisters-when-the-secret-is-not/) [John O'Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-donohue/) > [“Words were secret doorways and I held all the keys.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/words-were-secret-doorways-and-i-held-all-the-keys/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Sorry, I didn't see the big X with the words Top Secret Government Laboratory on the map, did you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/sorry-i-didn-t-see-the-big-x-with-the-words-top-secret-government/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [Poor parenting may be reflected in poor sibling relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-waldinger/poor-parenting-may-be-reflected-in-poor-sibling-relationships/) [Robert J. Waldinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-waldinger/) > [I do have siblings, but I don't have any brothers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-do-have-siblings-but-i-don-t-have-any-brothers/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When you look in the mirror, your difficult sibling always looks back, though the image is distorted. In the shadows lurk parts of yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-safer-jeanne-safer-ph-d/when-you-look-in-the-mirror-your-difficult-sibling-always-looks-back/) [Jeanne Safer Jeanne Safer Ph.D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-safer-jeanne-safer-ph-d/) > [I have seven step-siblings from my mother's second and third marriages. My degree of closeness to my step-siblings varies among the seven but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-have-seven-step-siblings-from-my-mother-s-second-and-third/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I've always had this interest in sibling relationships because I don't have any siblings. I'm completely a product of the one-child policy in China,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/i-ve-always-had-this-interest-in-sibling-relationships-because-i-don/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other. It may be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/we-must-love-one-another-yes-yes-that-s-all-true-enough-but-nothing/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [It's a very different bond, siblings and friends. And I just - I wanted that huge family, just to surround me, be surrounded by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadya-suleman/it-s-a-very-different-bond-siblings-and-friends-and-i-just-i-wanted/) [Nadya Suleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadya-suleman/) > [My parents raised me and my six siblings with little money... but lots of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-solis/my-parents-raised-me-and-my-six-siblings-with-little-money-but-lots/) [Hilda Solis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-solis/) > [Certainly, people can get along without siblings. Single children do, and there are people who have irreparably estranged relationships with their siblings who live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/certainly-people-can-get-along-without-siblings-single-children-do/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [I was someone's younger sibling and I finally have my own voice and my own spotlight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valentin-chmerkovskiy/i-was-someone-s-younger-sibling-and-i-finally-have-my-own-voice-and/) [Valentin Chmerkovskiy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valentin-chmerkovskiy/) > [Sibling rivalries continue even as they get older, such as who can finish their breakfast first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himanshi-khurana/sibling-rivalries-continue-even-as-they-get-older-such-as-who-can/) [Himanshi Khurana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/himanshi-khurana/) > [The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/the-only-siblings-i-have-are-half-siblings-my-nuclear-family-would/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) ## More by Mary Ruefle > [Now I will give you a piece of advice. I will tell you something that I absolutely believe you should do, and if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/now-i-will-give-you-a-piece-of-advice-i-will-tell-you-something-that/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [I hated childhood / I hate adulthood / And I love being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-hated-childhood-i-hate-adulthood-and-i-love-being-alive/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [The industrial world destroys nature not because it doesn’t love it but because it is not afraid of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-industrial-world-destroys-nature-not-because-it-doesn-t-love-it/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [Every time it starts to snow, I would like to have sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/every-time-it-starts-to-snow-i-would-like-to-have-sex/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [I remember I was a child, and when I grew up I was a poet. It all happened at sixty miles an hour and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-remember-i-was-a-child-and-when-i-grew-up-i-was-a-poet-it-all/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [Yes, the mistrust of poetry has a long history, for a variety of reasons, but they all come down to sentiment and invention over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/yes-the-mistrust-of-poetry-has-a-long-history-for-a-variety-of/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [“If there is any irreverence in my own work, I hope it is the irreverence I bear in mistrusting my own sincere self, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/if-there-is-any-irreverence-in-my-own-work-i-hope-it-is-the/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [We are all one question, and the best answer seems to be love—a connection between things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/we-are-all-one-question-and-the-best-answer-seems-to-be-love-a/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [Every creative act is an act of hypocrisy and violence. You may have to think about it for a while, but I am sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/every-creative-act-is-an-act-of-hypocrisy-and-violence-you-may-have/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [I have become an orchid washed in on the salt white beach. Memory, what can I make of it now that might please you-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-have-become-an-orchid-washed-in-on-the-salt-white-beach-memory-what/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [Irreverence is a way of playing hooky and remaining present at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/irreverence-is-a-way-of-playing-hooky-and-remaining-present-at-the/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [In the end I would rather wonder than know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/in-the-end-i-would-rather-wonder-than-know/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [The origins of poetry are clearly rooted in obscurity, in secretiveness, in incantation, in spells that must at once invoke and protect, tell the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-origins-of-poetry-are-clearly-rooted-in-obscurity-in/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [There is a world which poets cannot seem to enter. It is the world everybody else lives in. And the only thing poets seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/there-is-a-world-which-poets-cannot-seem-to-enter-it-is-the-world/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [the wasting of time is the most personal, most private, most intimate form of conversation with oneself, as well as with another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-wasting-of-time-is-the-most-personal-most-private-most-intimate/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) [Explore all 52 Mary Ruefle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) ## More Brotherhood quotes > [ The best way to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood \[in Egypt\] is in the ballot box, not through arrests and killing people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/the-best-way-to-marginalize-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-egypt-is-in-the/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [Saying that the origin of the Islamic State (IS) is within the Muslim Brotherhood organisation only strengthens IS.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/saying-that-the-origin-of-the-islamic-state-is-is-within-the-muslim/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [“All the same I keep on looking for someone incomprehensible who won't understand me either, because I have a terrible thirst for brotherhood”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-ajar/all-the-same-i-keep-on-looking-for-someone-incomprehensible-who-won-t/) [Emile Ajar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-ajar/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Brothers all In honour, as in one community, Scholars and gentlemen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/brothers-all-in-honour-as-in-one-community-scholars-and-gentlemen/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [This is me and my older brother alasandro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brother/this-is-me-and-my-older-brother-alasandro/) [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brother/) > [You may call for peace as loudly as you wish, but where there is no brotherhood there can in the end be no peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lerner/you-may-call-for-peace-as-loudly-as-you-wish-but-where-there-is-no/) [Max Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lerner/) > [Forgiving the men who killed my parents and brother was a process, a journey into deeper and deeper prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immaculee-ilibagiza/forgiving-the-men-who-killed-my-parents-and-brother-was-a-process-a/) [Immaculee Ilibagiza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immaculee-ilibagiza/) > [Overall, we had about 50 meetings where the brothers would say that I couldn't do any solo records, I couldn't write for other people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammy-hagar/overall-we-had-about-50-meetings-where-the-brothers-would-say-that-i/) [Sammy Hagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammy-hagar/) > [Please be slow to judge ‘brothers’ who have a different calling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-foreman/please-be-slow-to-judge-brothers-who-have-a-different-calling/) [Jon Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-foreman/) > [My brothers and I would try to talk our dad into letting us stay up and watch 'Star Trek.' I remember watching it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-lin/my-brothers-and-i-would-try-to-talk-our-dad-into-letting-us-stay-up/) [Justin Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-lin/) > [I work incredibly hard - just like every other person in business and work. And aside from the fact of, yes, I am the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-william-middleton/i-work-incredibly-hard-just-like-every-other-person-in-business-and/) [James William Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-william-middleton/) > [I have 10 brothers and sisters. My mother raised us because my father died when I was 8.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/i-have-10-brothers-and-sisters-my-mother-raised-us-because-my-father/) [Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/) > [A League of Their Own' had some special meaning for me, I guess - it's about women joining together and being empowered, but also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebel-wilson/a-league-of-their-own-had-some-special-meaning-for-me-i-guess-it-s/) [Rebel Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebel-wilson/) > [My older brothers were both basketball players so I just grew up around the gym.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brook-lopez/my-older-brothers-were-both-basketball-players-so-i-just-grew-up/) [Brook Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brook-lopez/) [Browse all 3,733 Brotherhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brotherhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The words secret and sacred are siblings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ruefle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brotherhood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ba/mary-ruefle-12875_brotherhood_the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings_1400002.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The words secret and sacred are siblings.” — Mary Ruefle", "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": "Mary Ruefle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The words secret and sacred are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-words-secret-and-sacred-are-siblings/#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 } } ] } ```