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Shame Quotes

Browse 2566 quotes about Shame.

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Shame Quotes

“At the gates of the forest, the surprised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish. The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes into these precincts. Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find Nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her.”

MenWorldFirstsRealityFallCitiesStepsWiseJudgingHeroCircumstancesShameFoolishForestsGatesCustomsFirst StepsSanctityDwarfsDiscredit
Book:Essays and Lectures
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“He ["the male"] is trapped in a twilight zone halfway between humans and apes, and is far worse off than apes, because he is, first of all, capable of a large array of negative feelings that the apes aren't - hate, jealousy, contempt, disgust, guilt, shame, disgrace, doubt - and, secondly, he is aware of what he is and isn't.”

FirstsHumansFeelingsHateDoubtCapableNegativeShameGuiltMalesZoneContemptTwilightDisgustingTrappedHalfwayDisgraceApesTwilight ZoneNegative Feelings
Author:Valerie Solanas
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“A giant as we hoped, in truth, a dwarf; A barrel of slop that shines on Lethe's wharf', Which at first seemed a vessel with sweet wine For thirsty lips. So down the swift decline You went through sloven spirit, craven heart And cynic indolence. And here the art Of molding clay has caught you for the nonce And made your shame our shame ~ Your head in bronze!”

FirstsHeartArtMadeSpiritAtheismSweetShameWineShiningLipsCaughtGiantsDeclineClayVesselBarrelsThirstyDwarfsIndolenceCynicDwarvesBronzeShine OnMoldingLetheSweet Wine
Author:Edgar Lee Masters
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“I like owls. I admire their intransigent spirit. I have respected them deeply ever since I met a baby owl in a wood, when it fell over dead, apparently from sheer temper, because I dared to approach it. It defied me first, and then died. I have never forgotten the horror and shame I experienced when that soft fluffy thing (towards which I had nothing but the most humanitarian motives) fell dead from rage at my feet.”

FirstsSpiritFeetBabyMetsHorrorApproachDiedShameForgottenWoodsHumanitarianRageAdmireMotiveTemperSheerOwlFluffy
Author:Vita Sackville-West
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“Let the words of a virgin, though in a good cause, and to as good purpose, be neither violent, many, nor first, nor last; it is less shame for a virgin to be lost in a blushing silence than to be found in a bold eloquence.”

FirstsLastsPurposeFoundLostCausesSilenceShameViolentVirginsEloquenceBlushingGood Causes
Book:Enchiridion Institutions, Essays and Maxims, political, moral & divine. Divided into four centuries. By Francis Quarles
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“Things temporal are sweeter in the expectation, things eternal are sweeter in the fruition; the first shames thy hope, the second crowns it; it is a vain journey, whose end affords less pleasure than the way.”

WayFirstsEndsPleasureJourneyEternalExpectationsShameVainAnticipationCrownsFruition
Book:Enchiridion Institutions, Essays and Maxims, political, moral & divine. Divided into four centuries. By Francis Quarles
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“I'm just made differently. Man, I just love being an American, I love my country. But it happened to me during the Nixon time, especially pre-Watergate, that as I watched Nixon for the first time in my life I felt shame. I had to analyze myself. What is this emotion? I realized that my government was separate from my country. It was the first time I ever felt ashamed of the government, not the country.”

MenFirstsMadeCountryGovernmentFeltLove IsEmotionHappenedFirst TimeShameI RealizedAshamedWatergate
Author:John Fogerty
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“An older child, one who possesses a conscience, will be troubled with self-reproaches and feelings of shame for his naughtiness, even if he is not discovered. But our two-year-olds and our three-year- olds experience guilt feelings only when they feel or anticipate disapproval from the outside. In doing this, they have taken the first steps toward the goal of conscience, but there is a long way ahead before the policeman outside becomes the policeman inside.”

IfsWayFeelsYearsFirstsChildrenLongTwoSelfFeelingsThreeGoalStepsTakenConscienceShameGuiltTwo YearsThree YearsFirst StepsLong WayPolicemenAnticipateReproachDisapprovalThree Year OldsTwo Year OldsGuilt Feelings
Author:Selma Fraiberg
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“When you want to direct someone toward the good, first put him at peace bodily and honor him with words of love. For nothing inclines such a man to shame and induces him to cast of his vice and be changed for the better as do bodily goods and honor, which he sees in you. Then, with love tell him a word or two, and do not be inflamed with anger toward him. Do not let him see any cause of enmity toward you. For love does not know how to lose its temper.”

KnowsMenWantInspirationalFirstsDoeTwoChristianCausesLosesReligiousKnow HowChangedHonorDirectShameCastsVicesOrthodoxGoodsTemperEnmityIncline
Author:Isaac of Nineveh
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“Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty. Perhaps, at first, prejudice, habit, shame or fear, principle or religion, would restrain the poor from attacking the rich, and the idle from usurping on the industrious; but the time would not be long before courage and enterprise would come, and pretexts be invented by degrees, to countenance the majority in dividing all the property among them, or at least, in sharing it equally with its present possessors.”

FirstsLongRealPoliticsPoorLibertyPrinciplesEconomyRichMankindHabitDegreesPrejudiceShameMajorityPropertyLiberalismEnterpriseIdleAttackingCountenanceDividingPretextIndustrious
Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 6: Defence of the Constitution IV, Discourses on Davila
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“I learned many lessons from my first race with my heroes. I learned it was easier to breathe when I cried, so I cried often and without shame. I learned that a teammate's faith in you can propel you up any mountain. I learned that winning requires an entirely different mind-set than not losing. I learned that the best teams in the world share not only their strengths but also their weaknesses. I learned that you don't inspire your teammates by showing them how amazing you are. You inspire them by showing them how amazing they are.”

WorldMindFirstsDifferentWinningRaceTeamShareInspireHeroEasierLessonsMountainLosingWeaknessShameBreatheCriedTeammateMy HeroMind SetBest TeamDifferent Minds
Author:Robyn Benincasa
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“FAQ regarding my book were not about my use of commas or how the images went berserk, but about the political situation in Bosnia, about guilt and shame, about victims and perpetrators, about reasons, arguments and beliefs that led to the conflict in the first place, etc. All of this needed and still needs answering and ongoing discussions, but I mostly felt overwhelmed and unqualified to articulate anything worth more than personal experiences of the siege, of fear and refuge - all the things which I wrote about anyway.”

NeedsFirstsStillsBookReasonUsePoliticalBeliefFeltSituationNeededConflictArgumentShameVictimGuiltDiscussionEtcRefugeOverwhelmedOngoingPersonal ExperiencesPerpetratorsSiegeUnqualifiedBosniaBerserk
Author:Sasa Stanisic
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“The sexual revolution... it was the first time I had read anything that came close to describing those feelings of being outside of my body, feeling the shame, all of it, that I really was able to connect to in that book. So it sort of blew my mind. I was also listening to Tori Amos at the same time, so I was like, "Wait, what's happening?!" It was all a part of that, probably when I was, like, 13.”

MindFirstsBookFeelingsBodyAbleWaitingRevolutionListeningHappeningsFirst TimeShameDescribingSexual Revolution
Author:June Diane Raphael
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“He had been content with daily labour and rough animal enjoyments, 'till Catherine crossed his path. Shame at her scorn, and hope of her approval, were his first prompts to higher pursuits; and, instead of guarding him from one and winning him to the other, his endeavors to raise himself had produced just the contrary result.”

FirstsWinningAnimalResultsPathHigherShameRaisesContraryPursuitEnjoymentLabourRoughEndeavorApprovalScornPromptsGuarding
Author:Emily Bronte
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“Why should we girls not have the same privileges as men? Why do we police ourselves so stringently- whittling each other down with cutting remarks or holding ourselves back from greatness with a harness woven of fear and shame and longing? If we do not deem ourselves worthy first, how shall we ever ask for more?”

IfsMenShouldFirstsGirlAsksCuttingGreatnessPoliceShameLongingPrivilegeWorthyRemarksWovenHarnessWhittling
Book:The Gemma Doyle Trilogy
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“It's a shame for women's history to be all about men--first boys, then other boys, then men men men. It reminds me of the way our school history textbooks were all about wars and elections, one war after another, with the dull periods of peace skimmed over whenever they occurred. (Our teachers deplored this and added extra units about social history and protest movements, but that was still the message of the books.)”

MenWayFirstsStillsBookWarSchoolSocialBoysTeacherMovementPeriodsMessagesShameElectionExtrasDullProtestUnitsTextbooksSocial HistoryHistory TextbooksProtest MovementsSchool History
Author:Elizabeth Kostova
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“The baby woke up before you did. I took him to the other room to let you get a little more sleep. We've been watching a game." "Did he cry?" "Only when he realized the Astros were having another first-round play-off flame out. But I told him there's no shame in crying over the Astros. It's how we Houston guys bond.”

FirstsLittlesPlayGuyGamesSleepRoomsCryBabyShameRoundsFlamesHouston
Book:Smooth Talking Stranger: A Novel
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“Love is influenced by no consideration, recognizes no restraints of reason, and is of the same nature as death, that assails alike the lofty palaces of kings and the humble cabins of shepherds; and when it takes entire possession of a heart, the first thing it does is to banish fear and shame from it.”

FirstsHeartDoeReasonLove IsKingsShamePossessionHumbleConsiderationRestraintPalacesLoftyShepherdsCabins
Book:The history of Don Quixote de la Mancha
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“Are you one of those people who says on a first date, 'I'm really not in a hurry to meet somebody, I figure if it happens, it happens'? Because those are the most desperate people of all. I'm just saying this so that if you are this person, you aren't hiding it from anybody. There is no shame in being hungry for another person. There is no shame in wanting very much to share your life with somebody.”

PeopleIfsFirstsPersonsHappensShareFiguresShameHungryDesperateHidingJust SayingFirst Date
Author:Augusten Burroughs
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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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“Devil does not bring sinners to Hell with their eyes open: he first blinds them with the malice of their own sins. He thus leads them to eternal perdition. Before we fall into sin, the enemy labours to blind us, that we may not see the evil we do, and the ruin we bring upon ourselves by offending God. After we commit sin, he seeks to make us dumb, that, through shame, we may conceal our guilt in confession.”

FirstsMayDoeEyeFallEvilSinEnemyHellDevilShameBlindGuiltCommitRuinsDumbLabourSinnerConfessionMaliceOffending
Author:Alphonsus Liguori
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“When I was fifteen, I remember my mum taking me to the posh clothes shop on London Road to get my first grown-up coat. It was royal-blue and very adult, and I thought, Gosh, this is great! But when my mum said to the assistant, "What's the lowest price you'll take for this?" I nearly died of shame, and wanted to run away.”

FirstsSaidRunningWantedRememberClothesAdultsDiedShameBlueGuiltLondonShopsRunning AwayMumFifteenCoatsLowestRoyalAssistantsPoshRoyal Blue
Author:Cilla Black
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“Jung first gave us the term ‘shadow’ to refer to those parts of our personality that have been rejected out of fear, ignorance, shame, or lack of love. His basic notion of the shadow was simple: ‘the shadow is the person you would rather not be.’ He believed that integrating the shadow would have a profound impact, enabling us to rediscover a deeper source of our own spiritual life. ‘To do this,’ Jung said, ‘we are obliged to struggle with evil, confront the shadow, to integrate the devil. There is no other choice.’”

FirstsPersonsHas BeensSaidSpiritualChoicesEvilTermSimpleStruggleIgnoranceSourcePersonalityDevilShadowShameImpactProfoundNotionDeeperSpiritual LifeRejectedObligedIntegratingEnablingJungLack Of Love
Author:Debbie Ford
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“And all knowledge, when separated from justice and virtue, is seen to be cunning and not wisdom; wherefore make this your first and last and constant and all-absorbing aim, to exceed, if possible, not only us but all your ancestors in virtue; and know that to excel you in virtue only brings us shame, but that to be excelled by you is a source of happiness to us.”

IfsKnowsFirstsLastsJusticeVirtueSourceShameAimConstantAncestorPlatoCunningExceedAbsorbingFirsts And LastsSource Of Happiness
Book:The Complete Plato
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“Lord, with what care hast Thou begirt us round! Parents first season us; then schoolmasters deliver us to laws; they send us bound to rules of reason, holy messengers, pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin, afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes, fine nets and stratagems to catch us in, bibles laid open, millions of surprises, blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness, the sound of glory ringing in our ears: without, our shame; within, our consciences; angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears. Yet all these fences and their whole array one cunning bosom-sin blows quite away.”

FirstsReasonWholeCareLawParentSoundSinLordMillionsGraceFineSorrowHolyBlessingEternalGloryConscienceAngelEarsSeasonsShameSurpriseBoundsRoundsSizeBlowTiesSundayAfflictionFenceAnguishCunningBosomsMessengersGratefulnessPulpitHopes And FearsStratagem
Book:The works of the Rev. George Herbert: with remarks on his writings, and a sketch of his life
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“What a shame that Christianity had come here!If the white man had not intruded where he was not wanted, where he did not belong, even now protected by the mountains and the river,the village would have remained a last stronghold of a culture which was almost gone.Mark tried to say that no village,no culture can remain static. I have often thought that if this lively and magnificent land belongs to anyone,it's to the birds and the fish.They were here long before the first Indian and when the last man is gone from the Earth,it will be theirs again.”

IfsMenFirstsLongWantedEarthLastsCultureWhiteChristianityGoneLandMountainBirdRiversMarkShameFishesIndianVillageProtectedMagnificentWhite ManLivelyStaticStrongholds
Book:I Heard the Owl Call My Name
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