A closed brass padlock with drops of blue paint seeping out of it onto a saucer on a rust-red surface.

Original artwork, not a still

Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria

Sigmund Freud

He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The claim here is that anyone paying attention can tell that people can't really keep secrets. Even when someone stays quiet, their fingers give them away, and betrayal seeps out through every pore. It expresses the viewpoint that the body speaks when the mouth won't.

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