From your confessor, lawyer and physician, hide not your case on

The words of John Harington, “From your confessor, lawyer and physician, hide not your case on no condition,” are spoken with the resonance of timeless counsel. They remind us that in the great struggles of the soul, of justice, and of the body, nothing is more dangerous than concealment. To withhold the truth from these three guides—the priest, the advocate, and the healer—is to deprive oneself of the very help that could save one’s soul, one’s liberty, or one’s life. Harington, a wit and courtier of Elizabethan England, was no stranger to the frailties of men. With these words, he distills wisdom into a maxim: honesty with those entrusted with our deepest burdens is not optional, but essential.

The origin of this saying comes from Harington’s writings, where wit and moral reflection often met. Known as the inventor of the flush toilet and as a poet who mingled satire with truth, Harington often spoke with clarity about the human condition. He saw that people, out of pride, fear, or shame, often withhold the truth from the very ones who could aid them most. To confess sins while hiding the gravest; to seek counsel of a lawyer while concealing crucial facts; to see a physician while disguising symptoms—such acts betray not the helper, but the sufferer. In this recognition, he gave us a warning that rings as true in our age as in his own.

History shows us a vivid example in the fall of Thomas More, the great English statesman and martyr. When charged with treason for refusing to endorse Henry VIII’s supremacy over the Church, More was pressed to defend himself in court. Though brilliant and skilled in law, he chose silence on matters that might have bettered his case. Out of conscience, he withheld, and though his martyrdom ennobled him, his silence ensured his death. Harington’s words remind us that while integrity is noble, when one seeks salvation, defense, or healing, concealment may prove fatal.

The deeper meaning of the quote is this: to entrust oneself to a guide is to surrender pride. The confessor needs the fullness of the heart’s sins to offer absolution and spiritual counsel. The lawyer must know every detail—pleasant or damning—to defend with skill and strategy. The physician must be told even the shameful ailments if healing is to come. Concealment in these matters is not caution but folly, for it blinds the very ones who are meant to see for us in our weakness. Truth, painful though it may be, is the first step to salvation, justice, or cure.

Yet Harington’s counsel is not merely practical, but moral. It is a lesson against hypocrisy and against the fear of judgment. To hide from one’s confessor is to fear man more than God. To hide from one’s lawyer is to pretend innocence where honesty is needed most. To hide from one’s physician is to place vanity above health. The quote teaches that true healing—of soul, law, or body—requires humility, the courage to be seen as one truly is. Only then can redemption, defense, or recovery take root.

The lesson for us is clear: do not withhold truth where truth is needed most. When seeking counsel, be honest, even brutally so. When seeking forgiveness, confess wholly, not half-heartedly. When seeking healing, speak plainly, even of things that shame you. For the power of these guides depends on the fullness of what they are given. To hide is to cripple their work; to reveal is to set in motion the forces that bring renewal.

Therefore, let us live as men and women unafraid of honesty in the moments that matter most. To those entrusted with our souls, our freedom, and our lives, let us speak with openness, though it wound our pride. For better to be humbled and healed than to be silent and lost.

So let Harington’s words endure: “From your confessor, lawyer and physician, hide not your case on no condition.” May they remind us that truth, though heavy, is the only burden that brings freedom when laid down at the feet of those appointed to bear it with us. To conceal is to perish; to reveal is to live.