Definitions HQ

A Secret (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not personal property: one is obliged not only not to betray it but not to forget it.

A Secret (n.) kept ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠ennobles a human being perhaps more than anything — it gives his whole life a meaning it has for himself alone and frees him from every vain regard for others.

A Secret (n.) kept ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠for love is the arrow Epaminondas left in his wound: as long as it stays in her heart she can live; the instant it is drawn out she must die.

A Secret (n.) you ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠have gulped down and cannot bring up except at the cost of your life is a reason never to marry.

A Secret (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be so terrible that one dares not utter it even to oneself, as though the very utterance were a new sin or a fresh temptation.

The Secret (n.) Abraham ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠keeps is double: he must keep it, and he can do nothing else, since he does not know its reason.