Few persons can be made to believe that it is not quite an easy thing to invent a method of secret writing which shall baffle investigation. Yet it may be roundly asserted that human ingenuity cannot concoct a cipher which human ingenuity cannot resolve.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Any cipher created by human ingenuity can eventually be broken by human ingenuity.
- In plain terms
- If humans make a code, humans can break it.
- What can you take from it?
- No secret code is truly unbreakable.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is true secrecy possible?
- Who solves the riddle first?
Another view
It assumes equal ingenuity on both sides of the problem.
More from Edgar Allan Poe
While, like a ghastly rapid river, Through the pale door A hideous throng rush out forever And laugh - but smile no more.
Permalink to quote #20 They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
Permalink to quote #22 In the greenest of our valleys By good angels tenanted, Once a fair and stately palace - Radiant palace - reared its head.
Permalink to quote #19
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