--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Rule number something or other -- never…" description: "\"Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in return.\" — Sara Paretsky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png" --- # Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody… ![“Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in return.” quote by Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png) > “Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in return.” [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Only share information when you expect a reciprocal benefit, treating knowledge as a strategic asset rather than a free commodity. **In simple terms:** Share only if you gain something. Key Takeaway Reciprocity drives communication. Themes social exchange strategic interaction trust building information economics personal boundaries Mood pragmatic guarded Type advice maxaphor When to use this quote - network negotiations - mentor‑mentee relationships - business deals - online forums - friendship dynamics Key Concepts reciprocity information sharing social capital boundaries Practical Applications - relationship management - negotiation tactics Questions to Reflect On - When might unconditional sharing be more valuable? - How does this mindset affect long‑term trust? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something-better/) ## Related quotes > [Rule Number One: Always respect rule Number 1.7 --Rule Number 1.7: Never lie your hand on a woman!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tee-shepard/rule-number-one-always-respect-rule-number-1-7-rule-number-1-7-never/) [Tee Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tee-shepard/) > [“Rule Number 1: To hell with what they think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rj-yolande-mendes/rule-number-1-to-hell-with-what-they-think/) [RJ Yolande Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rj-yolande-mendes/) > [Anyone can die. Rule number one is don't get too attached to a character, anyone can go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-huston/anyone-can-die-rule-number-one-is-don-t-get-too-attached-to-a/) [Jack Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-huston/) > [“rule number eight: noting ventured, nothing gained”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitali-perkins/rule-number-eight-noting-ventured-nothing-gained/) [Mitali Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitali-perkins/) > [Others can give you a name or a number, but they can never tell you who you really are. That is something you yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/others-can-give-you-a-name-or-a-number-but-they-can-never-tell-you/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“comes by again, give her my number and tell her…Never mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-foster/comes-by-again-give-her-my-number-and-tell-her-never-mind/) [Melissa Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-foster/) > [“Rule Number Three, and Four and Five and about a dozen more: you do not go with the flow in this job. You make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/rule-number-three-and-four-and-five-and-about-a-dozen-more-you-do-not/) [Tana French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-french/) > [“Rule Number Two, Monsignor. Do not show pity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-mcneil/rule-number-two-monsignor-do-not-show-pity/) [Gretchen McNeil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-mcneil/) > [“rule number one : be the best and the most of yourself”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samaneh/rule-number-one-be-the-best-and-the-most-of-yourself/) Samaneh > [“Rule number one. The good guys always win. Rule number two. If the good guys lose, we play again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-s-faddis/rule-number-one-the-good-guys-always-win-rule-number-two-if-the-good/) Charles S. Faddis > [Rule number one is, don't sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it's all small stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-davies/rule-number-one-is-don-t-sweat-the-small-stuff-rule-number-two-is-it/) Mike Davies > [“Rule number one, all love starts with hate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stapelfeldt/rule-number-one-all-love-starts-with-hate/) Alexander Stapelfeldt > [“Svava: "Rule number one: Never make a fool of yourself." Riis: "Rule number two: Never be a burden to any one." Svava: "Rule number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjornstjerne-bjornson/svava-rule-number-one-never-make-a-fool-of-yourself-riis-rule-number/) [Bjornstjerne Bjornson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjornstjerne-bjornson/) > [“Rule number one: Don't fuck with librarians.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/rule-number-one-don-t-fuck-with-librarians/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Rule number one is: Beat your team-mate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lando-norris/rule-number-one-is-beat-your-team-mate/) [Lando Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lando-norris/) ## More by Sara Paretsky > [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I always wrote; my first story was published in the magazine The American Girl when I was 11](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/i-always-wrote-my-first-story-was-published-in-the-magazine-the/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I'm a grandmother, and a mighty proud one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/i-m-a-grandmother-and-a-mighty-proud-one/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [Organizer is kind of a grand term for what I was doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/organizer-is-kind-of-a-grand-term-for-what-i-was-doing/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I thought it was time for a tough, smart, likable female private investigator, and that's how VI came to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/i-thought-it-was-time-for-a-tough-smart-likable-female-private/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [Don't tell me I have latent sexism or racism that I need to confront. I don't believe that. I think we are so burned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/don-t-tell-me-i-have-latent-sexism-or-racism-that-i-need-to-confront/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [The possibility of bringing white-collar criminals to justice is ever receding over the horizon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/the-possibility-of-bringing-white-collar-criminals-to-justice-is-ever/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [These events are swirling around them. In the white community, people felt like they had no control over their neighborhoods, their destiny. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/these-events-are-swirling-around-them-in-the-white-community-people/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [No agent wants to see a book until he or she has decided whether to pursue the relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/no-agent-wants-to-see-a-book-until-he-or-she-has-decided-whether-to/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [“But one of them had on an Army medal, a service medal, something like that. Do you know all of Chad's Army friends?" Radke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/but-one-of-them-had-on-an-army-medal-a-service-medal-something-like/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [Live disasters are wonderful attractions when you're safe on the other side of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/live-disasters-are-wonderful-attractions-when-you-re-safe-on-the/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [“about your actions. You keep me totally in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/about-your-actions-you-keep-me-totally-in/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [Around the time I turned 30, I wanted to publish a novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/around-the-time-i-turned-30-i-wanted-to-publish-a-novel/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I'm very honoured that there is a loyal following and I hope it continues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/i-m-very-honoured-that-there-is-a-loyal-following-and-i-hope-it/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I had wanted to write Ghost Country for a long time, but it wouldn't work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/i-had-wanted-to-write-ghost-country-for-a-long-time-but-it-wouldn-t/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) [Explore all 80 Sara Paretsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) ## More Mathematics quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [“π is a mathematician’s dessert”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-maslakovic/is-a-mathematician-s-dessert/) Neve Maslakovic > [For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/for-the-execution-of-the-voyage-to-the-indies-i-did-not-make-use-of/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [If enough money is involved and enough people believe that two plus two equals five the media will report the story with a straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/if-enough-money-is-involved-and-enough-people-believe-that-two-plus/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [There's no reason for men to be better at maths than women - it's just about our perception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-riley/there-s-no-reason-for-men-to-be-better-at-maths-than-women-it-s-just/) [Rachel Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-riley/) > [“I had a chat with May and I had a sweet talk with April but the lovely conversation that left me to ponder was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/i-had-a-chat-with-may-and-i-had-a-sweet-talk-with-april-but-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [For a physicist mathematics is not just a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/for-a-physicist-mathematics-is-not-just-a-tool-by-means-of-which/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [In school math and science were my favorite subjects, but I probably in my true self I'm more of a people person. At the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/in-school-math-and-science-were-my-favorite-subjects-but-i-probably/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [“How in the world did I ever find you?” Mackenzie Winters “Math class.” Brandon Knight”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-jeanisse/how-in-the-world-did-i-ever-find-you-mackenzie-winters-math-class/) [Bella Jeanisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-jeanisse/) > [“One is the notion that knowledge is worth acquiring, all knowledge, and that a solid grounding in mathematics provides one with the essential language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-patterson-jr/one-is-the-notion-that-knowledge-is-worth-acquiring-all-knowledge-and/) [William H. Patterson Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-patterson-jr/) > [The mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to the knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/the-mathematical-facts-worthy-of-being-studied-are-those-which-by/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [“When one day Lagrange took out of his pocket a paper which he read at the Académe, and which contained a demonstration of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-biot/when-one-day-lagrange-took-out-of-his-pocket-a-paper-which-he-read-at/) Jean-Baptiste Biot > [“We are not told, or not told early enough so that it sinks in, that mathematics is a language, and that we can learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-j-adler/we-are-not-told-or-not-told-early-enough-so-that-it-sinks-in-that/) [Mortimer J. Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-j-adler/) > [The dialectic is neither fiction nor mysticism, but a science of the forms of our thinking insofar as it is not limited to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/the-dialectic-is-neither-fiction-nor-mysticism-but-a-science-of-the/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) [Browse all 5,382 Mathematics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in return.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sara Paretsky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/rule-number-something-or-other-never-tell-anybody-anything-unless-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mathematics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/rule-number-something-or-other-never-tell-anybody-anything-unless-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/sara-paretsky-8563_mathematics_rule-number-something-or-other-never-tel_3503.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in…” — Sara Paretsky", "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": "Sara Paretsky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Rule number something or other --...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/rule-number-something-or-other-never-tell-anybody-anything-unless-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/rule-number-something-or-other-never-tell-anybody-anything-unless-you/#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 } } ] } ```