What does this quotation mean to you?

Question

"There is no privacy that cannot be penetrated. No secret can be kept in a civilized world. Society is a masked ball where everyone hides his real character, then reveals it by hiding"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I basically got that every secret will be discovered eventually, and that those who are afraid to be themselves or aren't self-confident will reveal their true selves through feigning and being someone else to see if others will actually accept them in a way where they won't be rejected if no one accepts them.

I feel like how I phrased it is somewhat awkward-can anyone either rephrase it or add ideas of his own?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Yeah. Good point.

Also to add to that- you can't ever suppress truth.

Answer 2

it means that there are no secrets that won't be re veiled and there are no lies that can be kept secret. If you are fake, everyone will know. Then when you find out that they know, you will hide.

Answer 3

Human nature is to parade around in facades, pretending perfection. We strive only to "appear" to meet the standards set by a society  - where no one, it seems, actually measures up - because none of us is perfect. We are all ashamed to reveal to the world that we are imperfect - a condition, ironically, that affects all of us. So - who are we hiding from? And why set these standards if no one can attain them??

Answer 4

Nothing Can be kept secret, except people, Becuase they control what others know about them or Many people are 2-faced??