Guilt upon the conscience, like rust upon iron, both defiles and consumes it, gnawing and creeping into it, as that does which at last eats out the very heart and substance of the metal.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
Let guilty men remember, their black deeds
Do lean on crutches made of slender reeds.
—John Webster (1580–1634) English Dramatist, Poet
Defending the truth is not something one does out of a sense of duty or to allay guilt complexes, but is a reward in itself.
—Simone de Beauvoir (1908–86) French Philosopher, Writer, Feminist
Guilt is ever at a loss, and confusion waits upon it.
—William Congreve (1670–1729) English Playwright, Poet
Better it were, that all the miseries which nature owns were ours at once, than guilt.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Guilt hath very quick ears to an accusation.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
For every man who lives without freedom, the rest of us must face the guilt.
—Lillian Hellman (1905–84) American Playwright, Dramatist, Memoirist
Sin with the multitude, and your responsibility and guilt are as great and as truly personal, as if you alone had done the wrong.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The gods Grow angry with your patience. ‘Tis their care, And must be yours, that guilty men escape not: As crimes do grow, justice should rouse itself.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
You cut up a thing that’s alive and beautiful to find out how it’s alive and why it’s beautiful, and before you know it, it’s neither of those things, and you’re standing there with blood on your face and tears in your sight and only the terrible ache of guilt to show for it.
—Clive Barker
Adversity, how blunt are all the arrows of thy quiver in comparison with those of guilt.
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
The guilt being great, the fear doth still exceed.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The mind of guilt is full of scorpions.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind: the thief doth fear each bush an officer.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Guilt is regret for what we’ve done.
Regret is guilt for what we didn’t do.
—Unknown
How guilt once harbour’d in the conscious breast , Intimidates the brave, degrades the great.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
That deed which in our guilt we today call weakness, will appear tomorrow as an essential link in the complete chain of Man.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
To what gulfs
A single deviation from the track
Of human duties leads even those who claim
The homage of mankind as their born due,
And find it, till they forfeit it themselves!
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing.
—Hannah Arendt (1906–75) German-American Philosopher, Political Theorist
Men’s minds are too ingenious in palliating guilt in themselves.
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
There is wickedness in the intention of wickedness, even though it be not perpetrated in the act.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Guilt has always its horrors and solicitudes; and, to make it yet more shameful and detestable, it is doomed often to stand in awe of those to whom nothing could give influence or weight but their power of betraying.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Men’s minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
In the small circle of pain within the skull
You still shall tramp and tread one endless round
Of thought, to justify your action to yourselves,
Weaving a fiction which unravels as you weave,
Pacing forever in the hell of make-believe
Which never is belief: this is your fate on earth
And we must think no further of you.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
My hands are guilty, but my heart is free.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
The fearful face usually betrays great guilt.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The guilt that feels not its own shame is wholly incurable.—It was the redeeming promise in the fault of Adam, that with the commission of his crime came the sense of his nakedness.
—William Gilmore Simms (1806–70) American Poet, Novelist, Historian
He who denies his guilt doubles his guilt.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.
—Philippine Proverb
He who flees from trial confesses his guilt.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
The guilty think all talk is of themselves.
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) English Poet, Philosopher, Diplomat, Bureaucrat
Total physical and mental inertia are highly agreeable, much more so than we allow ourselves to imagine. A beach not only permits such inertia but enforces it, thus neatly eliminating all problems of guilt. It is now the only place in our overly active world that does.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Guilt is a poor, helpless, dependent being. Without the alliance of able, diligent, and let me add, fortunate fraud, it is inevitably undone. If the guilty culprit be obstinately silent, it forms a deadly presumption against him; if he speaks, talking tends only to his discovery, and his very defence often furnishes the materials for his conviction.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
Haste, holy Friar,
Haste, ere the sinner shall expire!
Of all his guilt let him be shriven,
And smooth his path from earth to heaven!
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Where, where for shelter shall the guilty fly,
When consternation turns the good man pale?
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Guilt is a rope that wears thin.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
The worst guilt is to accept an unearned guilt.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Whoever blushes confesses guilt, true innocence never feels shame.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Thou need’st not answer; thy confession speaks,
Already redd’ning in thy guilty cheeks.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Let no guilty man escape, if it can be avoided. No personal consideration should stand in the way of performing a public duty.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Civil War General, Head of State
He who flees judgment confesses his guilt.
—Anonymous
Successful guilt is the bane of society
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Where the guilt is doubtful, a presumption of innocence should in general be admitted.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
Nothing is more wretched that the mind of a man conscious of guilt.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright