We do not what we ought,
What we ought not, we do,
And lean upon the thought
That chance will bring us through;
But our own acts, for good or ill, are mightier powers.Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) English poet and critic
Empedocles on Etna, Act 1, sc. 2, ll. 238-242 (1852)
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Quotations about:
sin
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, aye, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: “Do not drink,” answer him: “I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to.” One must always do what Satan forbids.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) German religious reformer
Letter to Jerome Weller (Jul 1530)
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Alt. trans.: "We are soon defeated if we try too hard not to sin. So when the devil says ‘Do not drink’ answer him: ‘I shall drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to!’"
But, by all thy nature’s weakness,
Hidden faults and follies known,
Be thou, in rebuking evil,
Conscious of thine own.John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) American poet and abolitionist
“What the Voice Said,” st. 15, ll. 57-60 (1847)
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Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
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If thou confesseth thy Sins and amendest not, thou mocketh God.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, # 661 (1725)
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If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 John 1:8-9 [KJV (1611)]
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Alternate translations:
If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from everything that is wrong.
[Jerusalem (1966)]
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.
[GNT (1976)]
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[NRSV (1989)]
Religion — easily — has the Greatest Bullshit Story Ever Told! Think about it. Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man — living in the sky — who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, He has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry, forever and ever, till the end of time! But He loves you! He loves you and he needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise — somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story, holy shit!
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
“You Are All Diseased,” HBO Special (1999-02-06)
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Reprinted, slightly edited, in Napalm & Silly Putty (2001):
Religion -- easily -- has the Greatest Bullshit Story Ever Told! Think about it: religion has actually convinced people -- many of them adults -- that there's an invisible man who lives in the sky and watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And who has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to remain and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry, forever and ever, till the end of time! But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money! He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, but somehow ... he just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, pays no taxes, and somehow always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy shit!
I have bought this wonderful machine — a computer. Now I am rather an authority on gods, so I identified the machine — it seems to me to be an Old Testament god with a lot of rules and no mercy.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) American writer, professor of literature
The Power of Myth, ch. 1 (1988)
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From interviews between Campbell and Bill Moyers in 1985-86. Broadcast as episode 2 of the PBS television show of the same name. Often truncated: "A computer is like an Old Testament god, with a lot of rules and no mercy."
When authorities warn you of the sinfulness of sex, there is an important lesson to be learned. Do not have sex with the authorities.
Matt Groening (b. 1954) American cartoonist, writer, producer
Life in Hell, “Basic Sex Facts For Today’s Youngfolk”
To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Protest,” Poems of Problems (1914)
Mistakenly attributed to Abraham Lincoln by Douglas MacArthur in a 1950 speech, and frequently since then.
Each race determines for itself what indecencies are. Nature knows no indecencies; Man invents them.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Mark Twain’s Notebook [ed. Paine (1935)]
But regardless of whether Hitler or the mass murderer of your choice sincerely regretted his actions in his last moments and made it to Heaven, with all due respect, what difference does it make to you? Apart from the awkward silence if you happen to bump into him there, I mean.
John Russell (contemp.) ("jr")
Belief-L (24 Nov. 1999)
EDMUND: This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, — often the surfeit of our own behavior, — we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as if we were villains by necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star!
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 125ff (1.2.125) (1606)
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Frightful this is in a sense, but it is true, and every one who has merely some little knowledge of the human heart can verify it: there is nothing to which a man holds so desperately as to his sin.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays
LEAR: Through tattered clothes small vices do appear.
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks.
Arm it in rags, a pygmy’s straw does pierce it.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 4, sc. 6, l. 180ff (4.6.180-183) (1606)
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ANGELO: ‘Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Measure for Measure, Act 2, sc. 1, l. 18ff (2.1.18-19) (1604)
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It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. It may be that our generation will have repent not only for the diabolical actions and vitriolic words of the children of darkness, but also for the crippling fears and tragic apathy of the children of light.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations,” speech, General Assembly fo the National Council of Churches, St Louis (4 Dec 1957)
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Often paraphrased: "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." See also here.
ALCIBIADES: To be in anger is impiety;
But who is man that is not angry?William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Timon of Athens, Act 3, sc. 5, l. 58ff [Alcibiades] (1606) [with Thomas Middleton]
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All sins are attempts to fill voids.
Simone Weil (1909-1943) French philosopher
Gravity and Grace [La Pesanteur et la Grâce], “To Desire Without An Object” (1947) [ed. Thibon] [tr. Crawford/von der Ruhr (1952)]
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Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
The Conquest of Happiness, ch. 4 “Boredom and Excitement” (1930)
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Men don’t so much blush for their Crimes, as for their Weaknesses and Vanity.
[Les hommes rougissent moins de leurs crimes que de leurs faiblesses et de leur vanité.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 4 “Of the Heart [Du Coeur],” § 74 (4.74) (1688) [Bullord ed. (1696)]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
Men blush not so much for their Crimes, as for their Weaknesses and Vanity.
[Curll ed. (1713)]
Men don't so much blush for their Crimes, as for their Weaknesses and Vanity.
[Browne ed. (1752)]
Men are less ashamed of their crimes than of their weaknesses and their vanity.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]
Men are less ashamed of their crimes than of their failings and of what touches their vanity.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]
DAUPHIN: Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 80ff (2.4.80-81) (1599)
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