It is the guilt, not the scaffold, which constitutes the shame.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
If yet not lost to all the sense of shame.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Where the mind is past hope, the heart is past shame.
—John Lyly (1554–1606) English Dramatist, Novelist, Writer
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
The extremes of glory and of shame, Like east and west, become the same No Indian prince has to his palace – More followers than a thief to the gallows.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
Mortifications are often more painful than real calamities.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
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
There’s a blush for won t, and a blush for shan’t, and a blush for having done it: There’s a blush for thought and a blush for naught, and a blush for just begun it.
—John Keats (1795–1821) English Poet
Study carefully, the character of the one you recommend, lest their misconduct bring you shame.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
False shame only is harmful.
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
The most curious offspring of shame is shyness.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
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
One of the misfortunes of our time is, that in getting rid of false shame, we have killed off so much real shame as well.
—Louis Kronenberger (1904–80) American Drama, Literary Critic
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
If a man fools me once, shame on him. If he fools me twice, shame on me.
—Chinese Proverb
What is the seal of attained freedom? -No longer being ashamed in front of oneself.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
He scratched his ear, the infallible resource to which embarrassed people have recourse.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Everyone needs a sense of shame, but no one needs to feel ashamed.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
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
Shame is worse than death.
—Russian Proverb
Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Nor do they trust their tongue alone, but speak a language of their own; can read a nod, a shrug, a look, far better than a printed book; convey a libel in a frown, and wink a reputation down.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
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
It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
You can only acquire it successfully if you cease to feel any sense of shame.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
I regard that man as lost, who has lost his sense of shame.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
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