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Shame Quotes

Browse 2566 quotes about Shame.

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Shame Quotes

“When all of our idols are taken away, all our securities and defense mechanisms, we find out who we really are. We’re so little, so poor, so emptyand a shock to ourselves. But the Biblical God takes away our shame, and we are eventually able to present ourselves in an honest and humble form. Then we find out who we really are and who God is for usand it is more than enough. That is how an enslaved people became God’s people, Israel.”

PeopleLittlesEnoughAbleFormPoorTakenHonestSecurityShameIsraelHumbleDefenseShockIdolsMechanismBiblicalWho God IsDefense Mechanisms
Author:Aaron Lines
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“A person is strong only when he stands upon his own truth, when he speaks and acts with his deepest convictions. Then, whatever the situation he may be in, he always knows what he must say and do. He may fall, but he cannot bring shame upon himself or his cause. If we seek the liberation of the people by means of a lie, we will surely grow confused, go astray, and loose sight of our objective, and if we have any influence at all on the people we will lead them astray as well - in other words, we will be acting in the spirit of reaction and to its benefit.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWellsMayMeanPersonsSpiritLyingFallSpeakStrongGrowsCausesActingSituationInfluenceBenefitsSightShameConvictionReactionsObjectivesLiberationConfused
Author:Mikhail Bakunin
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“Sometimes I think the people to feel the saddest for are people who are unable to connect with the profound—people such as my boring brother-in-law, a hearty type so concerned with normality and fitting in that he eliminates any possibility of uniqueness for himself and his own personality. I wonder if some day, when he is older, he will wake up and the deeper part of him will realize that he has never allowed himself to truly exist, and he will cry with regret and shame and grief.”

PeopleIfsThinkingFeelsSometimesLawRealizingGriefWonderCryPossibilityBrotherRegretTypePersonalityConcernedWake UpShameProfoundBoringDeeperUniquenessIn-lawsFittingSaddestNormalityHeartyBrother In Law
Book:Life After God
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“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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“Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them- we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed, and rare.”

PeopleIfsGivingTwoGrowsLove IsRootsConnectionsShameBlameAffectionBetrayalVulnerabilityDamageInjuryNurtureHealedDisrespectOnly LoveWithholdingLove Grows
Book:Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
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“Shame is the proper reaction when one has purposefully violated the accepted behavior of society. Inflicting it is etiquette's response when its rules are disobeyed. The law has all kinds of nasty ways of retaliating when it is disregarded, but etiquette has only a sense of social shame to deter people from treating others in ways they know are wrong. So naturally Miss Manners wants to maintain the sense of shame. Some forms of discomfort are fully justified, and the person who feels shame ought to be dealing with removing its causes rather than seeking to relieve the symptoms.”

PeopleKnowsWayWantFeelsKindPersonsFormLawSocialCausesMissingOughtBehaviorShameResponseSeekingAcceptedReactionsAll KindsMannersNastySymptomsJustifiedDiscomfortEtiquetteDisregardedTreating OthersMiss Manners
Book:Miss Manners Rescues Civilization: From Sexual Harassment, Frivolous Lawsuits, Dissing, and Other Lapses in Civility
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“Natural Giving: Anything we do in life which is not out of that energy, we pay for and everybody else pays for. Anything we do to avoid punishment, everybody pays for. Everything we do for a reward, everybody pays for. Everything we do to make people like us, everybody pays for. Everything we do out of guilt, shame, duty, or obligation, everybody pays for.”

PeopleGivingEnergyNaturalPayDutyCommunicationShameGuiltRewardsPunishmentObligationNonviolent Communication
Author:Marshall B. Rosenberg
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“Slavery, you know, is nothing else than the unwilling labor of many. Therefore to get rid of slavery it is necessary that people should not wish to profit by the forced labor of others and should consider it a sin and a shame. But they go and abolish the external form of slavery and arrange so that one can no longer buy and sell slaves, and they imagine and assure themselves that slavery no longer exists, and do not see or wish to see that it does, because people still want and consider it good and right to exploit the labor of others.”

PeopleKnowsWantShouldDoeStillsFormWishSinImagineLaborShameSlaverySellsSlaveProfitExploitsUnwillingAbolish
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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“I can't wait to do a fully improvised script again, to find people who are really comfortable and into it. It's about the capabilities of the people you're working with, what are their strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most brilliant actors need the spine of the text to work off of, and there's no shame in that; they're actors, not writers.”

PeopleNeedsI CanActorsWaitingComfortableWeaknessShameScriptsBrilliantCapabilitySpineStrength And Weakness
Author:Lynn Shelton
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“The difference between guilt and shame is very clear--in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he did something wrong. A person feels shame because he is something wrong. We may feel guilty because we lied to our mother. We may feel shame because we are not the person our mother wanted us to be.”

PeopleWantFeelsMayPersonsDifferentFeelingsWantedLyingMotherDifferencesClearTheoryShameGuiltGuiltyAshamedWrongLied
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
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“Are we bereft of citizenship because we are mothers, wives and daughters of a mighty people? Have women no country--no interests staked in public weal--no liabilities in common peril--no partnership in a nation's guilt and shame?”

PeopleCountryMotherNationsInterestCommonWifeDaughterShameGuiltPartnershipCitizenshipPerilLiabilityBereftWife And Daughter
Book:On Slavery and Abolitionism: Essays and Letters
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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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“The Greeks put us to shame not only by their simplicity, which is foreign to our age; they are at the same time our rivals, nay, frequently our models, in those very points of superiority from which we seek comfort when regretting the unnatural character of our manners. We see that remarkable people uniting at once fullness of form and fullness of substance, both philosophising and creating, both tender and energetic, uniting a youthful fancy to the virility of reason in a glorious humanity.”

PeopleReasonCharacterAgeFormHumanityRegretComfortCreatingModelsShameSimplicityMannersSubstanceGreekFancyGloriousRemarkableSuperiorityRivalsFullnessUnnaturalEnergeticUniting
Book:Aesthetical Essays of Friedrich Schiller
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“Pleasure is the rock which most young people split upon; they launch out with crowded sails in quest of it, but without a compassto direct their course, or reason sufficient to steer the vessel; for want of which, pain and shame, instead of pleasure, are the returns of their voyage.”

PeopleWantReasonPainYoungCoursesPleasureRocksReturnDirectShameSufficientQuestsSplitsSailVesselCrowdedVoyagesSteers
Book:Lord Chesterfield's Letters
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“How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfill their dream of having children, your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again.”

PeopleThinkingChildrenLittlesDreamBeautifulStepsFashionLike YouGayMiracleShameFingersDareHaving ChildrenLegionJudgementalSyntheticShame On YouIvf
Author:Elton John
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“When contemplating the pursuit of a dream or the start of a new venture, too many people are hesitant to begin because they can't comprehend the entire journey. If that's where you find yourself right now, don't expect to understand what it takes to get to the top. Just take the next step. There's no shame in starting small; in fact, if you don't start small, you'll probably never start at all.”

PeopleIfsFactsDreamNextStepsJourneyRight NowShameStartingPursuitFinding YourselfContemplatingVentureNext StepsHesitantNew Ventures
Author:John C. Maxwell
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“What would happen if people practiced openness and honesty? If people talked about their real challenges without shame or fear of rejection? My guess is that people would feel less alone and isolated. People would be willing to share more, and as a result, society would feel more connected to each other and their experiences.”

PeopleIfsFeelsRealHappensWould BeChallengesResultsShareHonestyWillingShameConnectedRejectionOpennessIsolatedFear Of Rejection
Author:Deborah Reber
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“It's a funny thing, but, as years go by, I think you appreciate more and more what a great thing it was to be a United States Marine... People will tell me what a shame it was I had to go back into the service a second time, but I'm kinda glad I did.. Besides, I am a U.S. Marine and I'll be one till I die.”

PeopleThinkingYearsStatesDiesUnitedUnited StatesAppreciateShameGladGreat ThingsServiceDedicationMarineFunny ThingsAllegianceMarine CorpsUs ArmyUnited States Marine
Author:Ted Williams
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“To a large extent, the aged in our society are ghettoized. Old people are seen as useless, bypassed by history, old-fashioned, in the way. So, not surprisingly, when we reach the official mark of old age, we're supposed to go gently into that good night, to get off center stage and hand over the spotlight. Old age is also surrounded by shame - the myth of impotence and inability.”

PeopleWayHandsAgeNightStageMarkShameMythOld AgeUselessOfficialsOur SocietyOld FashionedOld PeopleInabilitySpotlightGood NightImpotenceCenter Stage
Author:Sam Keen
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“What happened after 9/11 - and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not - was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons....The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsShouldHeartHas BeensWarReasonWantedUsedFightingNationsMemoriesIssuesHappenedEventsHeroHorrorShould HaveShameOccasionsFakeJustifyCashShould Have BeenShamefulAtrocitiesUnifyingWrong ReasonsWedgesRudy
Author:Paul Krugman
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“When the pangs shoot through our body, and ghastly death appears in view, people see the patience of the dying Christian. Our infirmities become the black velvet on which the diamond of God's love glitters all the more brightly. Thank God I can suffer ! Thank God I can be made the object of shame and contempt, for in this way God shall be glorified.”

PeopleWayMadeI CanBodyChristianSufferingBlackViewsDyingObjectsShameContemptThank GodDiamondGod's LoveGlitterVelvetInfirmityGhastly
Book:Spurgeon at His Best: Over 2200 Striking Quotations from the World's Most Exhaustive and Widely-read Sermon Series
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“When you see what goes on in Iraq on a daily basis - more people dying in car bombings - you almost brush it aside after a while. To actually comprehend the human tragedy of these events is overwhelming. We see so many images, but there's always the sense, for Americans, that it's not in our backyard. That's another reason why the war in Bosnia was so fascinating; because it really was in Europe's backyard. It was in Europe. And they didn't do anything about it for years. It took the Americans to end that war, really. That's a shame.”

PeopleYearsHumansWarEndsReasonDyingCarEventsGoes OnEuropeBasesTragedyShameIraqReason WhyFascinatingOverwhelmingBrushesBombingBackyardsBosniaPeople Dying
Author:Richard Shepard
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“People help way more than we expect, way more than makes sense. But when you talk to people called heroes, they often say they did it for themselves. In one case, a hero said that the cost of not doing it is so great, the sense of shame, when he knew that he was strong enough, that the fear of not doing anything was more frightening than the fear of dying.”

PeopleWaySaidEnoughHelpingStrongCasesDyingHeroCostShameMake SenseFrighteningStrong EnoughFear Of Dying
Author:Amanda Ripley
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“'Brokeback Mountain' is a sad love story about two people who can't be together, and the reason that they can't be together is because being gay is a stigmatized thing. It would be interesting to have the same movie in which the two guys weren't in the closet and there was no shame about them being gay and they couldn't be together for other reasons. I still feel like we're a long way from that happening.”

PeopleWayFeelsLongStillsTwoReasonStoriesWould BeTogetherGuyInterestingGayMountainHappeningsShameLove StoryClosetsLong WayBeing GaySad LoveTwo GuysBrokeback Mountain
Author:Wesley Morris
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