quotations about sin
My own sin
will not hinder the working
of God's goodness.
JULIAN OF NORWICH
Meditations with Julian of Norwich
God builds for every sinner, if he will but come back, a highway of golden promises from the depths of degradation and sin clear up to the Father's house.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Life Thoughts
How fair, to sinless Adam, Eden smiled!
But sin brought tears, and Eden was wild!
EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
Constance; Or, The Portrait
I don't remember ever being see-saw, when I'd made my mind up that a thing was wrong. It takes the taste out o' my mouth for things, when I know I should have a heavy conscience after 'em. I've seen pretty clear, ever since I could cast up a sum, as you can never do what's wrong without breeding sin and trouble more than you can ever see. It's like a bit o' bad workmanship--you never see th' end o' the mischief it'll do. And it's a poor look-out to come into the world to make your fellow creatures worse off instead o' better.
GEORGE ELIOT
Adam Bede
If it were possible to have a life absolutely free from every feeling of sin, what a terrifying vacuum it would be!
CESARE PAVESE
This Business of Living
'Tis not for us to warn a wilful sinner;
We stay him not, but let him run his course,
Till by misfortunes rous'd, his conscience wakes,
And prompts him to appease th' offended gods.
ARISTOPHANES
The Clouds
Sin, by its deadly infusions into the soul of man, wastes and eats out the innate vigor of the soul, and casts it into such a deep lethargy, as that it is not able to recover itself.
JOHN SMITH
Select Discourses
Sin is a terrible reality -- and one reason it's so terrible is because it separates us from God. But sin is also terrible because it affects every one of us, no matter how good or bad we are. In other words, we are all guilty before God, and none of us deserves His forgiveness or salvation.... But does this mean our situation is hopeless? Does this mean God will never forgive us, and Heaven's door is forever closed to us? No, it doesn't -- and the reason is because God has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. We can never cleanse ourselves of our sins, no matter how hard we try -- but God has provided the way for us to be forgiven and cleansed!
BILLY GRAHAM
"Jesus is all the necessary proof that God will forgive you", Marietta Daily Journal, August 12, 2017
When I look back upon my life
It's always with a sense of shame
I've always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter where or when or who
Has one thing in common too;
It's a -- it's a -- it's a -- it's a sin!
PET SHOP BOYS
"It's a Sin", Actually
Sin is like fire in that it will never die out while it is supplied with suitable fuel; unpardoned by grace, it will be its own fuel, and burn forever.
JOHN BATE
Six Thousand Illustrations of Moral and Religious Truths
The problem of sin is not to be confounded with the fact of sin. As to the fact, there is no room for question. All the great dramatists have recognized it in their portrayal of remorse, indignation, penalty, repentance, forgiveness, restoration. The great historians have recognized it, in depicting the struggle of righteousness with moral evil. Religious worship is largely founded upon it; for religious worship is largely an endeavor of the worshiper to rid himself of the present burden and the future penalty of sin. All government recognizes it; for certainly the first if not also the chief function of government is to protect the innocent from the sins of the sinful. He who denies the fact of sin denies the police and the prison, the temple and the priest, the battle-field and the martyrdom, Shakespeare and Aeschylus. The problem is not, Is there sin? but, Whence comes it? If we are to cure a disease, we must know its nature and origin. What is the nature and origin of sin, the cure of which is alike the problem of government, education, and religion -- of the courts, the school, and the church?
LYMAN ABBOTT
The Theology of an Evolutionist
But let me tell ya, spend every day living only for yourself, every day indulging in little sins that aren't that big of a deal, and one day I may be showing you the ropes in hell. Amen.
VICTORIA SCOTT
The Collector
Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
Survivor
The greatest temptations are not those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great evils masking as the greatest goods.
THOMAS MERTON
No Man Is an Island
Too often, we say we are defeated by this or that sin. No, we are not defeated. We are simply disobedient. It might be good if we stop using the terms victory and defeat to describe our progress in holiness. Rather, we should use the terms obedience and disobedience. When I say I am defeated by some sin, I am unconsciously slipping out from under my responsibility. I am saying something outside of me has defeated me. But when I say I am disobedient, that places the responsibility for my sin squarely on me. We may in fact be defeated, but the reason we are defeated is because we have chosen to disobey.
JERRY BRIDGES
The Pursuit of Holiness
A sinner is an incendiary and sets the world on fire.
BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE
Moral and Religious Aphorisms
God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (sin boldly), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, ... are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign.
MARTIN LUTHER
Dr. Martin Luther's Saemmtliche Schriften
Adam was but human--this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent.
MARK TWAIN
Pudd'nhead Wilson
The great cheat and delusion set before every generation is simply this tradition, that there is anything like real substantial pleasure in sin.
E. H. CHAPIN
Living Words
Sin and virtue are a game of resistance we play with God in His efforts to draw us towards perfection.
SRI AUROBINDO
Thoughts and Aphorisms