But it is no use to justify yourself. It is no good to explain. It is weak to be anecdotal. It is wise to conceal the past even if there is nothing to conceal. A man's power is in the half-light, in the half-seen movements of his hand and the unguessed-at expression of his face. It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires. Hilary Mantel
About This Quote

In this quote, Henry James is speaking about the value of secrecy. We often believe that if we told all our secrets to someone, they would be able to use them against us. James says that there is nothing to fear from revealing the truth. It can only make us stronger. Sometimes a secret can be a source of weakness, though, and the less we share with others, the stronger we become.

Source: Wolf Hall

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. - Stephanie Perkins
  2. Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high. - William Goldman
  3. I never lie, " I said offhand. "At least not to those I don't love. - Anne Rice
  4. I don't judge people. It blurs out the center of my attention, my focus, myself. - Toba Beta
  5. Many people pray to be kept out of unexpected problems. Some people pray to be able to confront and overcome them. - Toba Beta
More Quotes By Hilary Mantel
  1. I think now that this is the great division between people. There are people who find life hard and those who find it easy. There are those who have a natural, in-built, expectation of happiness, and there are those who feel that happiness is not...
  2. If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to ­music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go...
  3. It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.
  4. Evidence is always partial. Facts are not truth, though they are part of it — information is not knowledge. And history is not the past — it is the method we have evolved of organising our ignorance of the past. It’s the record of what’s...
  5. When men decided women could be educated - this is what I think - they educated them on the male plan; they put them into schools with mottoes and school songs and muddy team games, they made them were collars and ties. It was a...
Related Topics