Three small unmarked stylized pistols in a compact static arrangement

Original artwork, not a still

Benjamin Franklin

Three can keep a secret, if two are dead.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker jokes darkly that a secret among three is safe only when two of them are no longer alive. The wit lies in the grim arithmetic: the only reliable secret-keeper is the sole survivor. In effect, it says any secret shared with others will eventually leak.

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