Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? William Shakespeare, Hamlet III i 124, Hamlet to Ophelia
Anything that’s mended is but patched. Virtue that transgresses is but patched with sin, and sin that amends is but patched with virtue. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night I v 43-45, Feste
Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure II I 38, Escalus
The tempter or the tempted, who sins most, ha? ibid. II ii 169
5Might there not be a charity in sin
To save this brother’s life? ibid. II iv 64
Though in the trade of war I have slain men,
Yet do I hold it very stuff o’ the conscience
To do no contrived murder: I lack iniquity
Sometimes to do me service. William Shakespeare, Othello I ii 1
Think on thy sins. ibid. V ii 42, Othello
5Tremble, thou wretch
That hast within thee undivulged crimes
Unwhipped of justice; hide thee, thou bloody hand,
Thou perjured and thou similar man of virtue
That art incestuous; caitiff, in pieces shake,
That under covert and convenient seeming
Hast practised on man’s life;
Close pent-up guilts, rive your concealed centres
And cry these dreadful summoners grace.
I am a man more sinned against than sinning. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear III ii 51, Lear
Commit the oldest sins in newest kinds of ways. The Hollow Crown: Henry IV part II ***** starring Jeremy Irons & Simon Russell Beale & Tom Hiddleston & Alun Armstrong & David Bamber & Julie Walters & Niamh Cusack & David Dawson & Michaelle Dockery et al, director Richard Eyre, King, BBC 2012
According to the Infancy Gospel [of James] Mary’s conception in her mother’s womb is physically ordinary. But God makes a special provision: Mary will be born without ordinary sin. Mysteries of the Bible s4e10: Mary of Nazareth, A&E 1997
There are some people in the early movement saying, Wait a minute – if you say Jesus died for your sins and God wouldn’t forgive you without that, is God demanding human sacrifice? What kind of God is this? Professor Elaine Pagels, Princeton University
I believe that I have received Jesus Christ into my heart. I believe that he has covered all of my sins. Billy Graham
The Catholic Church holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the Earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die in extremest agony than that one soul, I will not say will be lost but commit one venial sin, should tell one wilful untruth or should steal one farthing without excuse. Cardinal Newman, Apologia
Given the number of sins we’ve committed in the course of the twentieth century reference to them must necessary be rather summary. Bishop Piero Marini, Vatican spokesman 2000
It is Christ, not Mary, who died for our sins. Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast, 2004; viz also novel
My husband – I think he has committed horrible acts. The Sopranos: College s1e5 starring James Gandolfini & Lorriane Bracco & Edie Falco & Michael Imperioli & Dominic Chianese & Steven van Zandt & Tony Sirico & Robert Iler et al, Carmela’s confession, HBO 1999
It’s just a matter of time before God compensates me with outrage for my sins. ibid.
Gentle and merciful Lord Jesus, I want to speak to you now with an open heart, an honest heart. Tonight I ask you to take my sins and the sins of my family into your merciful heart. We have chosen this life in full awareness of the consequences of our sins. The Sopranos s2e9: From Where to Eternity, Carmela’s prayer
It’s from Milton, Paradise Lost … There are seven deadly sins. Se7en 1995 starring Brad Pitt & Morgan Freeman & Kevin Spacey & Gwyneth Paltrow & Richard Roundtree & Richard Schiff & R Lee Ermey & Mark Boone junior & John Cassini & Reg E Cathey et al, director David Fincher, Somerset
You don’t make up for your sins in Church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it. Mean Streets 1973 starring Harvey Keitel & Robert De Niro & David Proval & Amy Robinson & Richard Romanus & Cesare Danova & Victor Argo & George Memmoli & David Carradine et al, director Martin Scorsese, opening scene
You have done much sinning, Seňor Clark. And you still do. The American 2010 starring George Clooney & Violante Placido & Thekla Reuten & Paolo Bonacelli & Irina Bjorklund & Johan Leysen, director Anton Corbijn, Priest to Jack
Who profits by a sin has done the sin. Seneca
Blot out my transgressions. The Mystery of Edwin Drood II, Drood, BBC 2012
Are not we sinners always knocking on heaven’s door? ibid.
If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin. Charles Darwin
Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?
Priest: No, not if you did not know.
Eskimo: Then why did you tell me? Annie Dillard
On 8th July 1741 a New England preacher Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Gates of Hell, 2010
In the late Middle Ages the Catholic Church thought of a diabolical way to bring in more cash ... These sin credits were a big money maker ... Penn & Teller, Bullshit! s6e6: Being Green, Showtime 2008
It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside. Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892
There is no repentance where a man can talk lightly of sin, much less where he can speak tenderly and lovingly of it. Charles H Spurgeon
The ... worst sinners, according to Jesus, are ... the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism. Hugh Nibley, Collected Works vol 9 foreword xv-xvi
I have sinned against you, my Lord. Jimmy Swaggart’s confession, cited Sex, Drugs & Religion, 2010
Would you like to sin
With Elinor Glyn
On a tigerskin?
Or would you prefer
To err
With her
On some other fur? Author unknown, 1907 rhyme, cited A Glyn, 1955
Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?
And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists?
And wherefore is he wearing such a conscious-stricken air?
Oh they’re taking him to prison for the colour of his hair. A E Housman, following trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde 1895
How shall I lose the sin, yet keep the sense,
And love th’offender, yet detest th’offence. Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard
To err is human; to forgive, divine. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
All sins are attempts to fill voids. Simone Weil
When I look back upon my life
It’s always with a sense of shame
I’ve always been the one to blame.
For every thing I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common thing in common too
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin … Pet Shop Boys, It’s a Sin
That purple-lined palace of sweet sin. John Keats, Lamia
On a sofa upholstered in panther skin
Mona did researches in original sin. William Plomer, Mews Flat Mona, 1960
We all have to decide for ourselves how much sin we can live with. Boardwalk Empire s1e12: A Return to Normalcy, Nucky to Margaret, HBO 2010
All sin tends to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation. W H Auden, A Certain World, 1970