So great is the virtue of repentance that it prolongs a man’s years.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Bad men are full of repentance.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Many people can do well in school, even get PhDs, yet are unhireable in the real world. The degree is US’s most overrated product.
—Marty Nemko (b.1950) American Career Coach
There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time in the midst of wretchedness.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
This is another day! Are its eyes blurred With maudlin grief for any wasted past? A thousand thousand failures shall not daunt! Let dust clasp dust, death, death; I am alive.
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
Repentance may begin, instantly, but reformation often requires a sphere of years.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
It is foolish to lay out money for the purchase of repentance.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Repentance is another name for aspiration.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
It is the greatest and dearest blessing that ever God gave to men, that they may repent; and therefore to deny or to delay it is to refuse health when brought by the skill of the physician—to refuse liberty offered to us by our gracious Lord.
—Jeremy Taylor
Happy the man who repents in the strength of his manhood.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
One may disavow and disclaim vices that surprise us, and whereto our passions transport us; but those which by long habits are rooted in a strong and powerful will are not subject to contradiction. Repentance is but a denying of our will, and an opposition of our fantasies.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
If you would be good, first believe you are bad.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The beginning of atonement is the sense of its necessity.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Your past is always going to be the way it was. Stop trying to change it.
—Unknown
As the ocean never freezes, so the gates of repentance never close.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Repentance hath a purifying power, and every tear is of a cleansing virtue; but these penitential clouds must be still kept dropping; one shower will not suffice; for repentance is not one single action but a course.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
Most people repent their sins by thanking God they ain’t so wicked as their neighbors.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Come, fair repentance, daughter of the skies! Soft harbinger of soon returning virtue; The weeping messenger of grace from heaven.
—Thomas Browne (1605–82) English Author, Physician
Repentance is the heart’s sorrow, and a clear life ensuing.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He who repents of having sinned is almost innocent.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Remorse is a violent dyspepsia of the mind.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
What is past is past, there is a future left to all men, who have the virtue to repent and the energy to atone.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past—the best evidence of regret for them that we can offer, or the world receive.
—Tryon Edwards (1809–94) American Theologian, Author
In three ways may we repent: by publicly confessing our sins, by manifesting sorrow for sins committed, and by good deeds, which are as sacrifices before the Lord.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Hindsight is always 20/20.
—Billy Wilder (1906–2002) American Filmmaker
All of us who are worth anything spend our manhood in unlearning the follies, or expiating the mistakes of our youth.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
It is much easier to repent of sins that we have committed than to repent of those that we intend to commit.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
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