Philip Roth Quotes

What man ever blamed himself for his misfortune?

O conscience, upright and stainless, how bitter a sting to thee is a little fault!

I have always been willing to take the blame for the things I have done.

I blame myself more so because I hung a curve. If you want to point a finger, point it at me.

In retrospect, I had a lot of shortcomings and didn't take care of the things that needed to be taken care of, and that's all my fault.

We are almost always guilty of the hate we encounter.

Some people think there's a woman to blame, but I know - it's my own damn fault

You have yourself to blame.

Blaming is so much easier than taking responsibility, because if you take responsibility … then you might be to blame.

You can bear anything if it is not your fault.

All this has been my fault.

I think remorse ought to stop biting the consciences that feed it.

Society isn't good at dealing with people who have something concrete to feel guilty about or who are dealing with a loss.

Permanent remorse about failing to do your human duty, in my opinion, can be worse than losing your life.

I might as well have pulled the trigger myself.

My guiding principle is this: Guilt is never to be doubted.

People who lose money always need someone to blame.

If I sold something, and it didn't perform, I'd never forgive myself.

I've gone through that with my mother and father and here I was in a similar situation. I've wronged her and I've wronged the family. Because when these things happen, it doesn't just happen to you, it happens to the people around you and the family.

I've done enough wrong on my own, I don't want to get blamed for something I didn't do.

Did I kill anyone?

Now I come to 75 years of age, I think what's most important in life is your conscience. If you told a lie and made other people suffer, I think that's very difficult when you reach this age.

I regret losing certain women, but it was always my fault.

I don't want to forgive myself. That's why I hate psychoanalysis I think if you're guilty of something you should live with it. Get rid of it - how can you get rid of a real guilt? I think people should live with it, face up to it.

That, Madam, is my misfortune, not my fault.