"None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them"

People who claim to love secrecy often possess an ironic relationship with hidden knowledge. The allure of secrets can be intoxicating: the sense of exclusivity, the thrill of possession, and the imagined power over others. When Charles Caleb Colton observes that "None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them", he highlights the paradoxical behavior displayed by those who delight in learning or collecting secrets, not to maintain confidence, but with an unspoken intention of sharing them, sometimes for personal gain, social leverage, amusement, or even the fleeting satisfaction of holding someone else’s trust just long enough to break it.

Such individuals are drawn to secrets for reasons that have little to do with loyalty or discretion. Instead, their enthusiasm springs from the possibility of being channels of information, of securing attention by being the one who knows something others do not. The act of disclosing a secret turns private knowledge into public spectacle, and the revealer into a figure of momentary significance. Their fondness for secrets is thus intimately connected to their eagerness, even compulsion, to divulge them.

Colton’s observation touches upon themes of human nature: our social instincts, our drive for relevance, and the subtle mechanics of trust and betrayal. The act of confiding in another trusts them with power, the power to reveal or withhold. Ironically, those most eager to be entrusted with secrets are often least trustworthy, motivated more by curiosity or their own objectives than by genuine respect for the sacredness of private information.

Through this lens, secrecy is not just a matter of character but also a social currency, one that is most desired by those willing to spend it freely. The saying thus serves as a warning: true discretion is rare, and the professed love of secrecy is sometimes a mask for a different, more self-serving motivation.