Religion

"But he who never sins can little boast Compared to him who goes and sins no more!"

"Nec tibi celandi spes sit peccare paranti; Est deus, occultos spes qui vetat esse dolos."

"To abstain from sin when a man cannot sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it."

"They say sin touches not a man so near As shame a woman; yet he too should be Part of the penance, being more deep than she Set in the sin."

"Sin is a state of mind, not an outward act."

"Omnes mali sumus. Quidquid itaque in alio reprehenditur, id unusquisque in suo sinu inveniet."

"Magna pars hominum est, quæ non peccatis irascitur sed peccantibus."

"Aliena vitia in oculis habemus; a tergo nostra sunt."

"Palam mutire plebeio piaculum est."

"Si quoties homines peccant sua fulmina mittat Jupiter, exiguo tempore inermis erit."

"Cui peccare licet peccat minus. Ipsa potestas Semina nequitiæ languidiora facit."

"Di faciles, peccasse semel concedite tuto: Id satis est. Pœnam culpa secunda ferat."

"Young Timothy Learnt sin to fly."

"In Adam's fall— We sinned all."

"Nor custom, nor example, nor vast numbers Of such as do offend, make less the sin."

"One should next proceed to the Vaitarani capable of destroying every sin."

"A Christian will consider a tyrannical person bossing a city brutally a lesser evil than a whole city lynching one man. In the first case there is one sinner and thousands of sufferers, in the latter case thousands of sinners and one sufferer. The materialist will look at the problem the other way round. He is never interested in sin, but as a humanitarian only in suffering. His final logical conclusion is euthanasia and the sacrifice of individuals to the whim of the masses."

"The one who by nature is depressed – how the depressed person looks upon everything as alien and unimportant, how in a certain sense, just as the air can be too light to breathe – for him everything is too light, because his mind is heavy; but this is not sorrow over his sin. The one who year after year with dreadful zest for life piled crime upon crime, most of whose time was spent in sinning – until he stood there annihilated and everything became unimportant to him; but sorrow over his sin there was not – there were sins enough, but sorrow over his sin there was not. On the whole, there is one thing that is altogether common; you can find it in all and in everyone, in yourself just as I find it in myself: sin and sins; there is one thing that is more rare: sorrow over one’s sin. Yet I have seen, and perhaps you also, the one who unconditionally sorrowed over only one thing, over his sin."

"It is proclaimed that there is forgiveness of sins, but no one says, “It is impossible.” Scarcely anyone turns away offended and says, “It is impossible”; even less does anyone say it in wonder or as the one says it who would like it to be true but does not dare to believe it, the one who still does not want to let go of it but unhappily loves this pronouncement that he does not dare to believe; even less is it said by one who just believes it, one whose repentance is mitigated into a quiet sorrow that in turn is transfigured into a blessed joy, the one who therefore, expressing his unspeakable gratitude to God, refreshes his soul by repeating, “It is impossible!” Oh, blessed refreshment, that the one who was brought close to despair because it was impossible now believes it, blessedly believes it, but in his soul’s wonder continues to say, “It is impossible!”"

"When a man severs himself from evil, he gains an exact understanding of all the sins he has committed against God; for he does not see his sins unless he severs himself from them with a feeling of revulsion."

"Let you love sinners and despise their deeds."

"A handful of sand, thrown into the sea, is what sinning is, when compared to God’s Providence and mercy. Just like an abundant source of water is not impeded by a handful of dust, so is the Creator’s mercy not defeated by the sins of His creations."

"¿O cuál es más de culpar, Aunque cualquiera mal haga: La que peca por la paga, O el que paga por pecar?"

"Sin is an evil of a kind that could not exist except through the denial of grace. It is not in any sense a violation of a law: it is always a personal offense against a person. It is unfaithfulness."

"Nothing can remit [sin] without Christ, and Christ will not remit anything without the Church. The Church can remit nothing except to those who are repentant, that is, to those whom Christ has touched with his grace; Christ will not consider anything forgiven to those who despise the Church."

"The aim of the law is not to punish sins, but is to prevent certain external results."

"A boor cannot be sin-fearing, an ignoramus cannot be pious, a bashful one cannot learn, a short-tempered person cannot teach, nor does anyone who does much business grow wise."

"Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense."

"Age is not an accomplishment, and youth is not a sin."

""What is the Unpardonable Sin?" asked the lime-burner; and then he shrank farther from his companion, trembling lest his question should be answered. "It is a sin that grew within my own breast," replied Ethan Brand, standing erect with a pride that distinguishes all enthusiasts of his stamp. "A sin that grew nowhere else! The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood with man and reverence for God, and sacrificed everything to its own mighty claims!"

"Old sinne makes newe shame."

"When sin turned into guilt, something was lost."

"The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought."

"Sun and Moon have always to be driven to duty, never doing it voluntarily because they do not wish to look upon the sins of man upon earth."

"It coucheth at the door of thy heart, yet it depends upon thee whether thou shalt be master over it, or it shall be master over thee."

"One may have to choose between communal sin and individual crucifixion, as Christ did; but there is absolutely no sin forced upon the individual."

"1. Wealth without work."

"He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasteth of it, is a devil."

"We are not always sinners; on the contrary, we also know how to be saints. And who could ever live if it were otherwise?"

"Small sins are sometimes harder to confess than big ones... but that's why it's important to confess them."

"For every sin, I'll have to pay. I've come to work, I've come to play. I think I'll find another way. It's not my time to go."

"Compound for sins they are inclin'd to, By damning those they have no mind to."

"So as you may see in Daniel and his companions, that would rather choose to burn, and be cast to the lions—than they would bow to the idol which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When this 'slight offense', in the world's account, and a hot fiery furnace stood in competition, that they must either fall into sin, or be cast into the fiery furnace—such was their tenderness of the honor and glory of God, and their hatred and indignation against sin, that they would rather burn than sin!"

"By our sinful falls — the powers of the soul are weakened; the strength of grace is decayed; our evidences for heaven are blotted; fears and doubts in the soul are raised (will God once more pardon this scarlet sin, and show mercy to this wretched soul?); the corruptions in the heart are more advantaged and confirmed; and the conscience of a man after falls is the more enraged or the more benumbed."

"I have committed the worst sin of all That a man can commit. I have not been Happy."

"That is the true definition of sin; when knowing right you do the lower, ah, then you sin. Where there is no knowledge, sin is not present."

"The sin against hope: the most deadly of all, and perhaps the most accepted, the most cherished."

"Just as those who do not feel sick do not go to the doctor, so those who do not feel sinful do not go to Jesus."

"It is the older generation who foster in a child an early and most unnecessary sense of guilt, of sinfulness and of wrongdoing. So much emphasis is laid upon petty little things that are not really wrong, but are annoying to the parent or teacher, that a true sense of wrong (which is the recognition of failure to preserve right relations with the group) gets overlaid and is not recognized for what it is. The many small and petty sins, imposed upon the children by the constant reiteration of "No", by the use of the word "naughty", and based largely on parental failure to understand and occupy the child, are of no real moment. If these aspects of the child's life are rightly handled, then the truly wrong things, the infringements upon the rights of others, . . . the hurting or damaging of others in order to achieve personal gain, will emerge in right perspective and at the right time."

"Numquam propter vitia homines oderis, neque vitia propter homines dilexeris."