History Main / ShamefulSourceOfKnowledge

* A priest calls in sick on Sunday so he can go to the golf course. After making sure no one can see him, he hits the first ball, which flies across the green and lands straight in the hole. The delighted priest keep playing, sinking the ball in the hole with every swing until he has a full 18 hole-in-ones. Cut to God and an angel watching him from above.

-->'''Angel:''' I don't understand, Lord. Here's a man who should hold your commandments closer to his heart than any other, he's shirking his responsibility to his flock and you reward him with a literal perfect game!

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* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Dax", the Dax symbiote in Jadzia Dax's body is placed on trial when Ilon Tandro accuses one of the symbiote's previous hosts, Curzon Dax, of treason and the murder of his father General Ardelon Tandro. Curzon is believed to be the only person who could have committed the crime and was never able to provide himself an alibi, but Jadzia refuses to speak in his defence despite the symbiote giving her access to Curzon's memories. General Tandro's widow Enina is also incredibly reluctant to involve herself in the trial, but eventually provides Dax with an alibi - she was having an affair with Curzon Dax, and he was in her bed at the time of her husband's death. There's another layer as well; Enina also knows the real truth of how General Tandro died, which she confesses to Dax - he attempted to sell out his own people to the rebels and [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves they killed him for it]], but this truth remains hidden to preserve Tandro's image as a inspirational war hero.

* ''Film/TheSting''. Doyle Lonnegan tries to cheat Henry Gondorff with a stacked deck during a poker game, but Gondorff outsmarts him by switching out the cards he was given for better ones.

* In ''Literature/{{PartnerShip}}'', the five {{Royal Brat}}s that [[LivingShip Nancia]] ferried to their [[ReassignedToAntarctica remote postings in the Nyota system]] are all planning to use their positions for various kinds of corrupt practices (they even have a bet going; the one who makes the most shady money in five years gets a cut of the others' operations). However, Nancia can't tell anyone about it because she got the information by refusing to introduce herself and letting them think they were aboard a mindless drone, which is considered tantamount to spying.

See also OrSoIHeard, IReadItForTheArticles, MortonsFork, and BigSecret. Compare UnbelievableSourcePlot, where they ''want'' to share their knowledge but can't; ClosetGeek, where the social stigma of having nerdy interests is shameful; and INeverSaidItWasPoison, where a character accidentally implicates themselves in a crime by revealing too much information. Also compare UnconventionalLearningExperience for examples in RealLife (though not always shameful or embarrassing).

* In ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', Victor's brother William is murdered and a locket is stolen from his body, and Justine is accused of the murder when the locket is discovered in her possession. Victor suspects the monster he created of the murder and believes Justine was framed, but can't speak in her defence out of fear that he'd be deemed insane if he tried to reveal the monster's existence to anyone else.

* ''Literature/TheInnsmouthLegacy. In ''Deep Roots'', the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Irregulars]] realise that FBI agent Ron Spector has been replaced by an imposter because this closet homosexual is DistractedByTheSexy. Unfortunately they can't reveal how they knew because [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset it would mean the end of Spector's career]].