DeWitt Clinton Quotes

I cannot stand that whole game of confession, that is: Here I have sinned, now I'm confessing my sins, and describing my path of sin and then in the act of confession I beg for your forgiveness and redemption.

It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.

People do bad things in their lives. And those sort of things are forgivable. That's half the point of having confession in church - you need to be able to fess up to what you've done.

God's forgiveness is the only thing. And, well, I take full responsibility for the adultery. It was my fault and, you know, no matter what went on, the man has to take responsibility; and I do.

And the only thing to do with a sin is to confess, do penance and then, after some kind of decent interval, ask for forgiveness.

It is much easier to repent of sins that we have committed than to repent of those that we intend to commit.

I have hardly detained the reader long enough on the subject, to give him a just impression of the stress laid on confession. It is one of the great points to which our attention was constantly directed.

Confess your sins to the Lord and you will be forgiven; confess them to man and you will be laughed at.

What people fail to understand coughing up sin and confessing it and giving it to the only one that can remove it, for crying out loud, we're all sinners.

Whoever hates his sins will stop sinning; and whoever confesses them will receive remission. A man can not abandon the habit of sin if he does not first gain enmity toward sin, nor can he receive remission of sin without confession of sin. For the confession of sin is the cause of true humility.

Confession of sins is not meritorious: to confess sins as a way of placing God in your debt is not dealing with sin; it is committing another sin. The context of all confession must be the free grace of justification.

The word 'confession,' to me, means needing to be absolved. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm not asking people to understand. I'd like to think that I tell stories and sometimes my life weaves through it.

Do not be afraid of Confession! One who is in line to confess himself feels all these things - even shame - but then, when he finishes confessing, he leaves free, great, beautiful, forgiven, [...] happy. And this is the beauty of Confession... Jesus is there...and He receives you with so much love.

The man hath penance done, And penance more will do.

Repentant tears wash out the stain of guilt.

I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.

Great is the difference betwixt a man's being frightened at, and humbled for his sins.

You have to be a little contrite to get redemption.

Guilt always hurries towards its complement, punishment; only there does its satisfaction lie.

I have sinned against you, my Lord.

Sadly, we do a much better job of making people feel guilty than we do of delivering them from the guilt we create. We need to confess this and change our ways.

O most merciful Father, put far from me all my iniquities and all my offences; so that, by Thee made whole in body and in soul, I may be accounted worthy to approach the Holy of holies.

Well, of course I think people can be forgiven. But our justice system is not set up to dispense forgiveness. You can go to the local priest for that.

Sins cannot be undone, only forgiven.

Mistakes you can learn from; sins stay with you forever.