It is the test of a novel writer's art that he conceal his snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always there.
Anthony Trollope

Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!
Confucius

Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.
William Osler

Looking so cool, his greed is hard to conceal, he's fresh out of law school, you gave him a license to steal.
Al Stewart

Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.
Voltaire

Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Mr. Chairman, on September 11, we were attacked by terrorists who took advantage of weaknesses in our border security. After infiltrating our country, the terrorists were able to conceal their real identities, and thereby plot their attacks without fear of being apprehended.
Jim Ryun

My painting is visible images which conceal nothing... they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.
Rene Magritte

Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.
David Ogilvy

Speech was given to the ordinary sort or men, whereby to communicate their mind; but to wise men, whereby to conceal it.
Robert South

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.
Friedrich Nietzsche

The Federal government does not have any information about extraterrestrial life to conceal, and there are no secret projects for me to investigate.
Orrin Hatch

The first step towards vice is to shroud innocent actions in mystery, and whoever likes to conceal something sooner or later has reason to conceal it.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The gods conceal from men the happiness of death, that they may endure life.
Lucan

The perfection of art is to conceal art.
Quintilian

The poor man wishes to conceal his poverty, and the rich man his wealth: the former fears lest he be despised, the latter lest he be plundered.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

The purpose of sealing the records was not to conceal them or to conceal the facts from the American people.
Louis Stokes

The same words conceal and declare the thoughts of men.
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Theatre director: a person engaged by the management to conceal the fact that the players cannot act.
James Agate

This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.
Voltaire