What a man is ashamed of is always at bottom himself; and he is ashamed of himself at bottom always for being afraid.
—R. G. Collingwood (1889–1943) English Philosopher, Historian, Archaeologist
Shame and guilt are noble emotions essential in the maintenance of civilized society, and vital for the development of some of the most refined and elegant qualities of human potential.
—Willard Gaylin (1925–2022) American Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Sin hath the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages
—Thomas J. Watson, Sr. (1874–1956) American Business Executive
I regard that man as lost, who has lost his sense of shame.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
The most curious offspring of shame is shyness.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
The only shame is to have none
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
There are persons who, when they cease to shock us, cease to interest us.
—F. H. Bradley (1846–1924 ) British Idealist Philosopher
In the case of scandal, as in that of robbery, the receiver is always thought as bad as the thief.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
The shame that arises from praise which we do not deserve often makes us do things we should otherwise never have attempted.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Avoid shame but do not seek glory—nothing so expensive as glory.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Old maids sweeten their tea with scandal.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Here shame dissuades him, there his fear prevails, And each by turns his aching heart assails.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
While shame keeps watch virtue is not wholly extinguished from the heart, nor will moderation be utterly exiled from the mind of tyrants.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Blush not now, said a distinguished Italian to his young relative whom he met coming out of a haunt of vice; the time to have blushed was when you went in.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is out-grossing my films.
—Paul Newman (1925–2008) American Actor, Philanthropist
As blushing will sometimes make a whore pass for a virtuous woman, so modesty may make a fool seem a man of sense.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The guilty catch themselves
—Common Proverb
Girls blush, sometimes, because they are alive, half wishing they were dead to save the shame. The sudden blush devours them, neck and brow; They have drawn too near the fire of life, like gnats, and flare up bodily, wings and all. What then? Who’s sorry for a gnat or girl?
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61) English Poet
Ashamed of the many frailties they feel within, all men endeavor to hide themselves, their ugly nakedness, from each other, and wrapping up the true motives of their hearts in the specious cloak of sociableness, and their concern for the public good, they are in hopes of concealing their filthy appetites and the deformity of their desires.
—Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733) Anglo-Dutch Philosopher, Satirist
See! those fiendish lineaments graven on the darkness, the writhed lip of scorn, the mockery of that living eye, the pointed finger, touching the sore place in your heart! Do you remember any act of enormous folly, at which you would blush, even in the remotest cavern of the earth? Then recognize your Shame.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
He scratched his ear, the infallible resource to which embarrassed people have recourse.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Honor and shame from no condition rise; act well your part—there all the honor lies.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.
—Salvador Dali (1904–89) Spanish Painter
Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
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