Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Secret (Noun)
Secrets are like maidens: the closer they are kept locked up, the more certain they are to escape.
—Honoré de Balzac
A secret is like silence: you cannot talk about it, and keep it. It is like money; when once you know there is any concealed, it is half discovered.
—Paul Chatfield
State secrets are like mortal poison: as long as that poison is in its box and the box closed, it is not injurious; out of the box, it kills.
—Alexandre Dumas, père
A secret in his mouth is like a wild bird in a cage, whose door no sooner opens, than ’tis out.
—Ben Jonson
Keep your own secrets, as the seed keeps the color of the flower.
—Alice Meynell
A secret at home is like a rock under tide.
—Dinah Maria Mulock