keep one's own counsel

keep one's own counsel

1. To keep one's own business private; to be discreet, careful, or circumspect in what one says concerning one's own thoughts, deeds, or situation.
   • 1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette, ch. 38:

     Who wills, may keep his own counsel—be his own secret's sovereign.

   • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Son of Tarzan, ch. 20:

     She kept her own counsel however, planning to escape at the first opportunity.

   • 2002, Verlyn Klinkenborg, "Editorial Observer: Moral Perfection and the Incorrigible Franklin," New York Times, 11 Oct. (retrieved 25 Oct. 2008):

     The compressed lips suggest his principled reticence, his practice of keeping his own counsel.

• (to keep one's own business private): keep one's cards close to one's chest, keep one's lips sealed, keep one's mouth shut

• keep one's counsel