“Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding” - Ralph Wald?

Can someone explain this to me ?“Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding” - Ralph Wald?
I'm not sure how to express most of what that quote says to me. I'll make an attempt, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.





';Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character,'; - Every person tries to put on his best face in front of others; to be what others will approve. There is an anonymity and a uniformity to a masked ball, a homogeneous atmosphere which makes all look and sound somewhat the same. It is a quality that would deny or destroy true individuality, while pretending to embrace and laud uniqueness. It is being part of a group, an entity, instead of having a distinct identity unique to each person. That mask covers what makes a man or woman what he or she is. A masked ball gives the picture of a mass of people affecting to be non-conformists who are, in fact, conforming to whatever criteria has general approbation at the time.





';and reveals it by hiding.'; - By being a part of the society, this masked ball, you are revealing a character that chooses the easiest path, the one which tells you to conform to what is the prevailing norm, the acceptable to a given group of people.





As far as an individual in society goes, what you are hiding can be revealed by your expression, by one word or action; everything and anything can announce what it is you think you have so cleverly concealed. Even what you do -not- say or what you refuse to do will tell others your true character. Everything conspires to tell your secret, even to what makes you frown or smile or laugh or gasp. The very things you choose to hide, will let people know something about you.





Hiding is done by a person who has opinions which differ from those considered correct or one who wants to appear to be different than he is, and the ';hider'; must have some astuteness to make the endeavor. This concealment may be revealed by the slightest thing; the opinion hastily swallowed, the expression quickly smoothed over. In short, something which a true observer will detect and an intelligent one will connect with whatever it is you are trying to hide.





Though I am not satisfied with my explanation, this is some of what I see in that statement. Truly I think there is a world of wisdom in that one sentence, and my effort to unravel it hardly makes a dent. Hopefully, though, I didn't make it even less clear than it was.





It sometimes helps to have a quotation given in context (or at least a part of the context):


';If you follow the suburban fashion in building a sumptuous-looking house for a little money, it will appear to all eyes as a cheap dear house. There is no privacy that cannot be penetrated. No secret can be kept in the civilized world. Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding. If a man wish to conceal anything he carries, those whom he meets know that he conceals somewhat, and usually know what he conceals. Is it otherwise if there be some belief or some purpose he would bury in his breast? 'Tis as hard to hide as fire. He is a strong man who can hold down his opinion. A man cannot utter two or three sentences, without disclosing to intelligent ears precisely where he stands in life and thought, namely, whether in the kingdom of the sense and the understanding, or, in that of ideas and imagination, in the realm of intuitions and duty. People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. We can only see what we are, and if we misbehave we suspect others.'; (from http://books.google.com/books?id=ok8RAAA… - Ralph Waldo Emerson)