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There are a few things which are always worth keeping to yourself. Telling the world about them — however much you want to — just won’t bring you anything good. Here are seven of the most crucial things we think you should always keep secret.
Don’t reveal your most ambitious plans. Keep silent about these until you’ve actually managed to fulfill them. Such plans often have weak spots and ill-thought out parts which you haven’t noticed; therefore, the chances are that someone could pick them apart quite easily, leading you to become too disheartened to even try to overcome them.
Don’t deliberately share information about any good or generous deeds or charitable work that you’ve done. The greatest virtue lies in doing something good without hope of recognition. Boasting about such things can quickly lead to arrogance. If you feel the need to, perhaps you should evaluate why it is that you’re really doing these things — is out of altruism, or the desire to be praised?
Never reveal the secrets of your lifestyle. It’s not worth bragging about how you’ve gone on a diet, or overcome your habit of sleeping too much in the morning, or stopped indulging your appetite for sex. If you’ve given up on worldly pleasures for the sake of spiritual goals, then it makes no sense to talk about this — your emotional condition needs to be harmonious, and such a desire to impress others and receive praise is a sign that it is not.
Another thing it is always worth keeping silent about are those moments when you’ve shown courage or heroism. We all come up against various challenges every day — both in the external world and on the inside, in our own minds. Your achievements in dealing with both, should they become known, will be rewarded appropriately. It’s not for you to decide whether they are worthy of recognition — therein lies the lesson.
Never share your thoughts on what you consider to be your enlightened knowledge of the universe and on questions of life and death. It’s only your interpretation, rather than objective truth, and the chances are you will only seem condescending to others when you try to convince them that they’re mistaken.Only in very rare cases will someone benefit from your thoughts on this subject.
It’s never worth revealing any conflicts or problems in your family life to others. Always bear in mind: the less you divulge such secrets about your family to others, the stronger it will be. Such things can only ever be resolved within the privacy of your own home, between loved ones. The more you complain to others about them the harder they will be to overcome.
Don’t talk about all the unpleasant things you’ve heard people say or do. Just as it’s possible to get your clothes dirty, you can also soil your mind. And the person who recounts all the foolish and awful things he hears and sees going on in the world as soon as he gets home is no different from the one who forgets to take of his shoes when he walks through the door.
