Vices

"Law can discover sin, but not remove, Save by those shadowy expiations weak."

"Mary said: What is the sin of the world? The Savior said: there is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin. That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root. Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you."

"Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins."

"On the determinist hypothesis an omnipotent God could have prevented all sin by creating us with better natures and in more favourable surroundings. … Hence we should not be responsible for our sins to God."

"In God’s eyes – listen – no one is a victim. We are all perpetrators of open rebellion, scandalous, blasphemous sin against God."

"Thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable, but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men...Thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved...Be not condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen."

"Her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she eat; Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe That all was lost."

"Sins which would terrify us if they were peculiar to ourselves alone cease to frighten us when they are shared. The sinner sleeps soundly when he finds himself surrounded by a multitude, as though God were obliged to spare him."

"Intendo per innocente non uno incapace di peccare, ma di peccare senza rimorso"

"Alas! alas! how plague-spot like will sin Spread over the wrung heart it enters in!"

"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truths announced in the Holy Scriptures, and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."

"There is no true love for the sinner without hatred for his sin."

"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."

"O Mother, keep back the arm of justice of thy indignant Son, and conquer by thy mercy the hearts of sinners, since they are our brethren and thy children, redeemed through the blood of our sweet Jesus and through the wounds of thy most tender heart pierced with the sword. Show thyself to all in this day, as thou art, the Queen of peace and mercy."

"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."

"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."

"Let you love sinners and despise their deeds."

"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."

"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."

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

"What lack of comprehension in the prayer "I, undeserving priest, by the power given to me by God, now forgive thy sins"! Yes, the forgiveness granted to the repentant sinner in exchange for his money is the greatest crime. The bribery of Divinity with gold—is it not worse than the worst forms of fetishism? This dreadful question must be discussed from every angle. Verily, this hideous ulcer is spread all over the world, in all religions. Thus, in Tibet, there is a gang of robbers called gollocks, who believe in lamaism, a religion just as distant from the Covenants of Buddha as our church is from the Teaching of Christ. These gollocks go to Lhassa annually on pilgrimage to pray for the forgiveness of their crimes. On this particular journey they abstain from robbing the helpless population because they hope to be received by the high priests of their sect. But after receiving full forgiveness for their crimes upon payment of money, they give full freedom to debauchery and return to their practices of robbery, with even more violence, whenever they can. Has not their guilt been taken from them, and may they not purify themselves again the following year? It is only a question of a fee!"

"Every being which is endowed with reason, and transgresses its statutes and limitations, is undoubtedly involved in sin."

"The sinner must feel far worse before he ever has a right to feel any better."

"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!”"

""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!"

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

"Old sinne makes newe shame."

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

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

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

"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."

"1. Wealth without work."

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

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"Sin on more."

"When a sinner has any just sense of his condition, as alienated from a holy God, he will not be apt to think of the unpardonable sin."

"If, in proportion as our minds are enlarged, our hearts purified, and our consciences cultivated, our abhorrence of wrong and aversion to it increases, what must be the moral indignation of the infinite and holy God against wrong-doers?"

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

"It is neither wrongful nor sinful to discriminate against sin."

"As for our own faults, it would take a large slate to hold the account of them; but, thank God, we know where to take them, and how to get the better of them."

"Sin is to be overcome, not so much by maintaining a direct opposition to it, as by cultivating opposite principles. Would you kill the weeds in your garden, plant it with good seed; if the ground be well occupied, there will be less need of the labor of the hoe. If a man wished to quench fire, he might fight it with his hands till he was burnt to death; the only way is to apply an opposite element."

"You cannot stay the shell in its flight; after it has left the mortar, it goes on to its mark, and there explodes, dealing destruction all around. Just as little can you stay the consequences of a sin after it has been committed. You may repent of it, you may even be forgiven for it, but still it goes on its deadly and desolating way. It has passed entirely beyond your reach; once done, it cannot be undone."

"The deliberate and habitual practice of any form of dishonesty or immorality is impossible to one who follows Christ."

"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."

"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."