(The reader ought not to see any irreconcilable inconsistency in my treatment of “secrets” in this entry. I am not talking about such impersonal secrets which belong to posterity as public knowledge, and therefore must be revealed by their carriers in recognition of their preeminent importance, and solely for the sake of history. The reader is already well aware of the fact that this is exactly what I am doing in the historical sections of my book. [A number of such entries have been posted on this blog by now.] But certain personal secrets of “subhistorical” importance are quite another matter. Some of them will eventually come out, impersonally, perhaps, while others surely never will.)
Secret kept is priceless; secret revealed is worthless…
Stalin used to teach my father that secrets have value only in so far as they are kept secret. A revealed secret no matter how valuable it had been before it was revealed, is completely worthless. The key to this riddle is to let others know that you are in possession of certain secrets, but, at the same time, to keep them in a state of perpetual suspense.
I have learned this story from my father, but I have learned some very pertinent lessons from life. There are many people who are talented with the excellent quality of being able to keep their secrets throughout their life, only to succumb to vanity or thirst for profit and reveal them at an advanced age, or, as the very pinnacle of vanity, to have their secrets published post mortem. There is not much value to such secrets, though, and, in the final analysis, all revealed secrets are sort of disappointing, like a lengthy Poirot monologue at the end of an exciting Agatha Christie whodunit.
Secrets are an integral part of the individual’s mystique, and those that die with the individual never revealed, either as a deathbed confession or posthumously, are the only treasures he takes with him to the other world. These unrevealed secrets are the protective shell of the person’s soul, which allows him to be apart from the rest of humanity.
There are great, precious secrets, which I am taking to the grave with me. Those who expect that I shall bare my soul in this book, letting it go naked the rest of the way, are badly mistaken. As a fit consolation for their bitter disappointment, let the advice contained in this entry be clearly understood, and properly internalized: never let your soul go naked either in this world or in afterlife. Treasure your greatest secrets and never part with them, or else, even the memory of you shall end up in the poorhouse of tomorrow.
Secret kept is priceless; secret revealed is worthless…
Stalin used to teach my father that secrets have value only in so far as they are kept secret. A revealed secret no matter how valuable it had been before it was revealed, is completely worthless. The key to this riddle is to let others know that you are in possession of certain secrets, but, at the same time, to keep them in a state of perpetual suspense.
I have learned this story from my father, but I have learned some very pertinent lessons from life. There are many people who are talented with the excellent quality of being able to keep their secrets throughout their life, only to succumb to vanity or thirst for profit and reveal them at an advanced age, or, as the very pinnacle of vanity, to have their secrets published post mortem. There is not much value to such secrets, though, and, in the final analysis, all revealed secrets are sort of disappointing, like a lengthy Poirot monologue at the end of an exciting Agatha Christie whodunit.
Secrets are an integral part of the individual’s mystique, and those that die with the individual never revealed, either as a deathbed confession or posthumously, are the only treasures he takes with him to the other world. These unrevealed secrets are the protective shell of the person’s soul, which allows him to be apart from the rest of humanity.
There are great, precious secrets, which I am taking to the grave with me. Those who expect that I shall bare my soul in this book, letting it go naked the rest of the way, are badly mistaken. As a fit consolation for their bitter disappointment, let the advice contained in this entry be clearly understood, and properly internalized: never let your soul go naked either in this world or in afterlife. Treasure your greatest secrets and never part with them, or else, even the memory of you shall end up in the poorhouse of tomorrow.
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