Franklin warns that information cannot be fully controlled once it has been shared. Even a trusted friend may repeat a secret accidentally, disclose it under pressure or later cease to be a friend. If the consequences of an enemy learning something would be serious, the safest course is therefore not to disclose it in the first place.

The saying is not an argument against friendship or trust. Its focus is on discretion and the practical limits of confidentiality. Trusting another person introduces an additional point at which information can escape one’s control, however reliable that person may seem. Franklin’s broader lesson is that genuinely sensitive information should be shared only when necessary. Protecting a secret depends not merely on choosing trustworthy confidants, but also on limiting how widely the information is known.