He who flees judgment confesses his guilt.
—Anonymous
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
He who denies his guilt doubles his guilt.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Guilt’s a terrible thing.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Let guilty men remember, their black deeds
Do lean on crutches made of slender reeds.
—John Webster (1580–1634) English Dramatist, Poet
The sin lessens in the guilty one’s estimation, only as the guilt increases.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
I have half a conscience to go ahead and do it, and feel guilty afterwards
—Unknown
Whoever profits by the crime is guilty of it
—Unknown
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
How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
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
For every man who lives without freedom, the rest of us must face the guilt.
—Lillian Hellman (1905–84) American Dramatist, Memoirist
The difference between guilt and shame is very clear—in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are.
—Lewis B. Smedes (1921–2002) American Christian Author, Ethicist, Theologian, Academic
Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind: the thief doth fear each bush an officer.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The greatest incitement to guilt is the hope of sinning with impunity.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Action and care will in time wear down the strongest frame, but guilt and melancholy are poisons of quick dispatch.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
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
Better it were, that all the miseries which nature owns were ours at once, than guilt.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Men’s minds are too ingenious in palliating guilt in themselves.
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Whatever guilt is perpetrated by some evil prompting, is grievous to the author of the crime. This is the first punishment of guilt that no one who is guilty is acquitted at the judgment seat of his own conscience.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
My hands are guilty, but my heart is free.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Where, where for shelter shall the guilty fly,
When consternation turns the good man pale?
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends
—Charlotte Bronte (1816–1855) English Novelist, Poet
How tedious is a guilty conscience.
—John Webster (1580–1634) English Dramatist, Poet
Neither side is guiltless if its adversary is appointed judge.
—Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus) (39–65 CE) Roman Statesman, Latin Poet
And then it started, like a guilty thing upon a fearful summons.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Guilt is present in the very hesitation, even though the deed be not committed.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
He declares himself guilty who justifies himself before accusation.
—Common Proverb