--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You know there are no secrets in America…" description: "\"You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people think of a secret as a shared relation between two people.\" — W..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/w-h-auden-856_america_you-know-there-are-no-secrets-in-america_1374144.png" --- # You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite… ![“You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people think of a secret as a shared relation between two people.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/w-h-auden-856_america_you-know-there-are-no-secrets-in-america_1374144.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/w-h-auden-856_america_you-know-there-are-no-secrets-in-america_1374144.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/w-h-auden-856_america_you-know-there-are-no-secrets-in-america_1374144.png) > “You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people think of a secret as a shared relation between two people.” [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights cultural differences: America treats secrets as hidden facts, while England sees them as relational bonds between individuals. **In simple terms:** America hides secrets; England shares them. Key Takeaway Recognize how context shapes privacy expectations. Themes culture privacy communication Mood reflective analytical Type literary observational When to use this quote - business negotiations - personal relationships - international diplomacy - media reporting Key Concepts social norms relational ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural views on secrecy affect trust? - What policies reflect these differing attitudes? A Different Perspective Not all societies view secrecy the same; legal frameworks may clash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) ## Related quotes > [One of the best kept secrets in America is that people are aching to make a commitment, if they only had the freedom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-naisbitt/one-of-the-best-kept-secrets-in-america-is-that-people-are-aching-to/) [John Naisbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-naisbitt/) > [This was our common ground, the secret we shared but never spoke aloud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/this-was-our-common-ground-the-secret-we-shared-but-never-spoke-aloud-2/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [There's something quite magical that can happen when a secret is no longer a secret - or is a shared secret or a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-cotton/there-s-something-quite-magical-that-can-happen-when-a-secret-is-no/) [Charlotte Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-cotton/) > [I think there's no secret that I've always been a scorer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-plum/i-think-there-s-no-secret-that-i-ve-always-been-a-scorer/) [Kelsey Plum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-plum/) > [Don't you think that any secret course is an unworthy one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/don-t-you-think-that-any-secret-course-is-an-unworthy-one/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I think, a secret love is something none of your friends would understand. And it's like a fairy tale, but more serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yunho/i-think-a-secret-love-is-something-none-of-your-friends-would/) [Yunho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yunho/) > [There's a tendency for us to think that the secret of our success is something that is mystical and maybe someday my time will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/there-s-a-tendency-for-us-to-think-that-the-secret-of-our-success-is/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [I think the secret is really observation. Well, if you observe what's going on and try to figure out how people are thinking, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-cooke/i-think-the-secret-is-really-observation-well-if-you-observe-what-s/) [Sam Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-cooke/) > [If you think you might have secret information listening to me, you're lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morton-feldman/if-you-think-you-might-have-secret-information-listening-to-me-you-re/) [Morton Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morton-feldman/) > [“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-most-important-things-are-the-hardest-to-say-they-are-the-things-2/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [There's a thing when you're always working on something you really love, and this one we loved so much, it feels like you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-reeves/there-s-a-thing-when-you-re-always-working-on-something-you-really/) [Matt Reeves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-reeves/) > [I don't think it's a secret that New York tastemakers don't love my work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schwartz/i-don-t-think-it-s-a-secret-that-new-york-tastemakers-don-t-love-my/) [Stephen Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schwartz/) > [I think the secret of memoirs is keeping those parts of yourself off the page, which makes what you do share more valuable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-barr/i-think-the-secret-of-memoirs-is-keeping-those-parts-of-yourself-off/) [Damian Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-barr/) > [I think my secret would have to be just being true to who I am and just being myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tia-mowry/i-think-my-secret-would-have-to-be-just-being-true-to-who-i-am-and/) [Tia Mowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tia-mowry/) > [“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-most-important-things-are-the-hardest-to-say-they-are-the-things/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More by W. H. Auden > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Why doesn't the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/why-doesn-t-the-united-states-take-over-the-monarchy-and-unite-with/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/harrow-the-house-of-the-dead-look-shining-at-new-styles-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/men-will-pay-large-sums-to-whores-for-telling-them-they-are-not-bores/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-to-whom-evil-is-done-do-evil-in-return/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-and-the-public-know-what-all-schoolchildren-learn-those-to-whom/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/how-happy-the-lot-of-the-mathematician-he-is-judged-solely-by-his/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/perhaps-there-is-only-one-cardinal-sin-impatience-because-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-windiest-militant-trash-important-persons-shout-is-not-so-crude/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/time-and-fevers-burn-away-individual-beauty-from-thoughtful-children/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-hunt-for-symbols-in-a-fairy-tale-is-absolutely-fatal/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) [Explore all 344 W. H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. 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