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Shame Quotes

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Shame Quotes

“I mean that it is more natural for me to be wicked than virtuous, when I do a bad act, and I've done many, I never feel wither shame, remorse or fear, I sometimes wish it was not necessary as I don't like the trouble, but as for any moral sense of principle, I haven't a particle. Many people are like me as actions prove, but they are not so frank in owning it and insist on keeping up the humbug of virtue.”

PeopleFeelsMeanSometimesDoneActionWishNaturalMoralPrinciplesVirtueTroubleHavensProveShameLike MeWickedFrankVirtuousRemorseParticlesHumbugOwning It
Author:Louisa May Alcott
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“The consolations of the vulgar are bitter in the royal ear. Let physicians and confectioners and servants in the great houses be judged by what they have done, and even by what they have meant to do; the great people themselves are judged by what they are. I have been told that lions, trapped and shut up in cages, grieve from shame more than from hunger.”

PeopleHas BeensDoneHouseEarsShameHungerBitterServantGrievingLionsJudgedTrappedPhysiciansShut UpCagesRoyalVulgarConsolationGreat People
Author:Isak Dinesen
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“In fiction, I exercise my nosiness. I am as curious as my cats, and indeed that has led to trouble often enough and used up several of my nine lives. I am an avid listener. I am fascinated by other people's lives, the choices they make and how that works out through time, what they have done and left undone, what they tell me and what they keep secret and silent, what they lie about and what they confess, what they are proud of and what shames them, what they hope for and what they fear. The source of my fiction is the desire to understand people and their choices through time.”

PeopleDoneEnoughUsedLyingDesireChoicesLeftSecretFictionTroubleSourceProudExerciseCatShameSilentWork OutNineCuriousFascinatedListenersUndoneRough TimesAvidNine Lives
Author:Marge Piercy
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“If I wrote at all, I must throw myself headlong into the great political maelstrom, and would of course be swallowed up like a fishing-boat in the great Norway horror which decorated our school geographies; for no woman had ever done such a thing, and I could never again hold up my head under the burden of shame and disgrace which would be heaped upon me. But what matter? I had no children to dishonor; all save one who had ever loved me were dead, and she no longer needed me, and if the Lord wanted some one to throw into that gulf, no one could be better spared than I.”

IfsChildrenMatterDoneWould BeWantedSchoolPoliticalCoursesLordNeededHorrorShameBurdenBoatJournalismFishingWhat MattersDisgraceGeographyDishonorNorwayGreat PoliticalMaelstromFishing Boats
Author:Jane Swisshelm
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“The wise man does nothing but what can be done openly and without falseness, nor does he do anything whereby he may involve himself in any wrong-doing, even where he may escape notice. For he is guilty in his own eyes before being so in the eyes of others; and the publicity of his crime does not bring him more shame than his own consciousness of it.”

MenMayDoeDoneEyeConsciousnessWiseCrimeShameGuiltyPublicityFalseness
Book:The Sacred Writings of Saint Ambrose (Annotated Edition)
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“...how little our side of the industry did to move its business to the more ethical firms and to make a fuss about conflicted or unethical behavior. Had a number of us moved our business, we might have slowed or even stopped the 30-year slide in conflicted, unethical behavior that we have experienced. I, for one, regret the modest nature of our moves. We all could have done more. We have tolerated a pretty nasty decline in standards. Shame on us.”

YearsLittlesDoneMightMovingSidesNumbersRegretIndustryBehaviorStandardsShameMovedFirmEthicalDeclineNastyModestSlidesUnethical
Author:Jeremy Grantham
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“The best definition I've heard is that guilt is about what you've done, shame is about who you are. If something's out of my control, I don't feel shame about it, because what could I have done? If you're guilty, you can at least try to atone for it or make it better or not do it again. If it's who you are, you can't do much about it except change yourself, and that's pretty hard.”

IfsFeelsTryingHardDoneHeardShameWho You AreGuiltDefinitionsGuiltyChange Yourself
Author:Mary Gaitskill
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“When, however, you have an enemy, then do not requite him good for evil: for that would shame him. Instead, prove that he did some good for you. And rather be angry than put to shame! And when you are cursed, I do not like it that you want to bless. Rather curse a little also! And if you are done a great injustice, then quickly add five small ones. Hideous to behold is he who is obsessed with an injustice.”

IfsWantLittlesDoneEvilEnemyFiveProveShameAngryAddInjusticeCurseObsessedBlessCursedHideous
Author:Friedrich Nietzsche
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“[T]he kingdom of heaven is of the childlike, of those who are easy to please, who love and who give pleasure. Mighty men of their hands, the smiters and the builders and the judges, have lived long and done sternly and yet preserved this lovely character; and among our carpet interests and twopenny concerns, the shame were indelible if we should lose it. Gentleness and cheerfulness, these come before all morality; they are the perfect duties.”

IfsMenGivingShouldLongDoneCharacterHandsHeavenEasyInterestLosesPerfectPleasureJudgingDutyMoralityPleaseConcernShameLovelyKingdomsGentlenessCarpetCheerfulnessBuilderChildlikeKingdom Of HeavenIndelible
Author:Robert Louis Stevenson
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“I read a lot of studies about the fact that there is a bias in the way health care is doled out, down to the fact that most medical studies are done on men, not women, so most dosages are planned for men, not women, and on and on. And more than that, women's pain is gauged differently and their complaints are received differently. And the idea that there's a place where you can go where everything is geared toward you, as a woman, is great. But it's a shame that we need to find places that are "safe" when the world, the whole world, should be a safe place.”

MenWorldWayNeedsShouldIdeasDoneWholeFactsCarePainStudySafeShameMedicalWhole WorldHealth CareBiasComplaintsSafe PlacesDosage
Author:Shonda Rhimes
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“To get out of desperate situation can only be done by education and by openness for Indonesians. Everybody who can, should be participating in this 'project'. Not only professional educators and teachers , but especially artists, creative people, thinkers. There should be many more initiatives, particularly more from the independent press! What happened to progressive independent publications in Indonesia? Nothing - they never took off! It is a shame.”

PeopleDoneArtistSituationCreativeTeacherShameIndependentDesperateProgressiveOpennessThinkerInitiativeCreative PeopleEducator
Author:Andre Vltchek
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“We do not always remember the things that do no credit to us. We justify them, cover them in bright lies or with the thick dust of forgetfulness. All of the things that Shadow had done in his life of which he was not proud, all the things he wished he had done otherwise or left undone, came at him then in a swirling storm of guilt and regret and shame, and he had nowhere to hide from them. He was as naked and as open as a corpse on a table, and dark Anubis the jackal god was his prosector and his prosecutor and his persecutor.”

DoneRememberLyingLeftDarkRegretProudShadowShameTablesGuiltCreditStormNakedDustJustifyThickCorpsesUndoneForgetfulnessProsecutorJackalsAnubis
Author:Neil Gaiman
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“A wave of blood goes up to my head, my stomach shrinks together, as if something dangerous has just missed hitting me. It's as if I've been caught stealing, or telling a lie; or as if I've heard other people talking about me, saying bad things about me, behind my back. There's the same flush of shame, of guilt and terror, and of cold disgust with myself. But I don't know where these feelings have come from, what I've done.”

PeopleIfsKnowsDoneFeelingsTogetherLyingBehindsTalkingHeardBloodDangerousColdShameGuiltWaveCaughtTerrorStealingBad ThingsStomachDisgustingHittingShrinksPeople TalkingBehind My BackTalking About MeSaying Bad Things
Book:Cat's Eye
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“What should our second generation have done, what should it do with the knowledge of the horrors of the extermination of the Jews? We should not believe we can comprehend the incomprehensible, we may not compare the incomparable, we may not inquire because to inquire is to make the horrors an object of discussion, even if the horrors themselves are not questioned, instead of accepting them as something in the face of which we can only fall silent in revulsion, shame and guilt. Should we only fall silent in revulsion, shame and guilt? To what purpose?”

IfsShouldBelieveMayDoneFacesPurposeFallAcceptingGenerationsObjectsHorrorShameGuiltSilentJewCompareDiscussionIncomparableExterminationRevulsionShame And Guilt
Book:The Reader
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“In the end there is nothing to be done but to state clearly what has been done, without shame or regret, and say: Here I am, and this is what I am. Now deal with me as you see fit. That is your right. Mine is to stand by the act, and pay the price. You do what you must do, and pay for it. So in the end all things are simple.”

Has BeensEndsStatesDoneSimpleDealsPayMinesRegretFitAll ThingsShameHere I AmPay The Price
Book:Brother Cadfael: The Complete Chronicles
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“And no, it wasn't shame I now felt, or guilt, but something rarer in my life and stronger than both: remorse. A feeling which is more complicated, curdled, and primeval. Whose chief characteristic is that nothing can be done about it: too much time has passed, too much damage has been done, for amends to be made.”

Has BeensMadeDoneFeelingsFeltToo MuchStrongerShameGuiltComplicatedChiefsDamageCharacteristicsRemorseAmendsPrimeval
Book:The Sense of an Ending
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“Shame usually follows a pattern—a cycle of self-recrimination and lies that claims life after life. First, we experience an intensely painful event. Second, we believe the lie that our pain and failure is who we are—not just something we’ve done, or had done to us—and we experience shame. And finally, our feelings of shame trap us into thinking that we can never recover—that, in fact, we don’t even deserve to.”

ThinkingFirstsBelieveSelfDoneFactsFeelingsPainLyingEventsDeserveClaimsShamePatternsPainfulWho We AreCyclesTraps
Book:The Christian Atheist: Believing in God But Living as If He Doesn't Exist
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“There is much to be done, there is much that can be done... One person of integrity, can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our lives will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.”

KnowsNeedsChildrenPersonsLongDoneVoiceDifferencesFreedomForgetQualityOur LivesDependsIntegrityShameVictimFilledPrisonHungryBeing TrueMaking A DifferenceLife And DeathAnguishNot AloneDissidents
Author:Elie Wiesel
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“Although wrongs have been done to me, I live in hopes. I have not got two hearts....Now we are together again to make peace. My shame is as big as the earth, although I will do what my friends have advised me to do. I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses and everything else, it is hard for me to believe the white men any more.”

MenBelieveHeartHas BeensTwoHardDoneBigsEarthTogetherWhiteMy FriendsHorseShameNativeNative AmericanWhite ManMaking PeaceTogether AgainLodgesTwo Hearts
Author:Black Kettle
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“I've borne the shame of mother while you bought her off with a present and a treat here and there. God knows how hard I tried to civilize her so as not to have to blush with shame when I take her anywhere. I dressed her in the most stylish Paris models, but Delancey Street sticks out from every inch of her. Whenever she opens her mouth, I'm done for. You fellows had your chance to rise in the world because a man is free to go up as high as he can reach up to; but I, with all my style and pep, can't get a man my equal because a girl is always judged by her mother.”

KnowsMenWorldHardDoneMotherGirlChanceKnow HowStreetsStyleEqualModelsMouthsTreatsShameFellowsSticksParisJudgedInchesGod KnowsHere And ThereStylishPep
Book:Hungry Hearts: Stories of the Jewish-American Immigrant Experience
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“One of our troubles is we are not willing to humble ourselves. We are not willing to give up our opinions as to how things should be done. We want a revival to come just in our way. You never saw two revivals come just alike. We must let them come in God's way. People are ashamed to admit they need a revival. If you are not willing to take the shame on yourself, you then let it remain on Jesus Christ. You must bear the reproach of your sinful state of indifference, or the cause of our Master must bear it.”

PeopleIfsWayWantNeedsGivingShouldTwoStatesDoneJesusCausesChristOpinionSawsTroubleWillingMastersBearsGiving UpJesus ChristShameHumbleIndifferenceAshamedRevivalReproach
Author:Mordecai Ham
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“Christian mothers, if only you knew the future of distress and peril, of shame ill-restrained, that you prepare for your sons and daughters in imprudently accustoming them to live hardly clothed and in making them lose the sense of modesty, you should be ashamed of yourselves and of the harm done the little ones whom heaven entrusted to your care, to be reared in Christian dignity and culture.”

IfsShouldLittlesDoneCareChristianMotherCultureHeavenLosesSonDaughterDignityShameIllHarmAshamedModestyDistressPerilYour SonSon And DaughterIf Only You Knew
Author:Pope Pius XII
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“When we evaluate the rightness or wrongness of actions or behavior, we need to ask ourselves if that behavior will edify—build up—ourselves or someone else, or if it will tear down. The question is not what we can get away with, but what is healthy and edifying. When it is all said and done, are we edified spiritually? Have we been built up and strengthened in our relationship with the Lord or with our spouse, or have we been weakened? Do we come away encouraged or discouraged, confident or filled with a sense of guilt or shame? Is our conscience clean?”

IfsNeedsSaidDoneActionAsksLordTearsHealthyBehaviorConscienceBuiltShameFilledGuiltCleanGet AwayOur RelationshipSpouseDiscouragedEvaluateSaid And Done
Book:The Purpose and Power of Love & Marriage
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“Only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present. Most of us spend fifty-nine minutes an hour living in the past, with regret for lost joys or shame for things badly done (both utterly useless and weakening) or in a future which we either long for or dread. . . . There is only one minute in which you are alive, this minute, here and now. The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle. Which is exactly what it is-a miracle and unrepeatable.”

KnowsWayPersonsLongDonePastJoyLostHoursAcceptingAliveMinutesRegretThousandMiracleShameNineTricksUselessFiftyDreadHere And NowLive In The PresentWay To LiveOne MinuteWeakeningLiving In The PastReally Living
Author:Storm Jameson
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