ashamed Quotes

“Shame derives its power from being unspeakable.”

“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”

“We cannot grow when we are in shame, and we can’t use shame to change ourselves or others.”

“I couldn’t understand why he was home all day, when Mama had to go out working. I was ashamed of him for that and, in a deeper way, for being what had led to our imprisonment, that is, for being so unalterably Japanese.”

“I can’t stand myself for doing it, but I do it anyway.”

“He felt that he should say it one last time and really mean it. ‘I’m very sorry, Shmuel,’ he said in a clear voice. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t tell him the truth. I’ve never let a friend down like that before. Shmuel, I’m ashamed of myself.‘”

“Soul, if you want to learn secrets,
 your heart must forget about shame
 and dignity. You are God’s lover,
 yet you worry what people are saying.”

“I’m ashamed I never tried to help her in the woods. That I let the Capitol kill the boy and mutilate her without lifting a finger. Just like I was watching the Games.”

“Families are as sick as their secrets. The secrets are what they are ashamed of. Family secrets can go back for generations. They can be about suicides, homicides, incest, abortions, addictions, public loss of face, financial disaster, etc. All the secrets get acted out. This is the power of toxic shame.”

“Don’t be self-conscious,” he whispered in my ear. “If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I’m not ashamed of it.”

“To kill a naked cub is shame. Besides, he may make better sport for you when he is grown.”

“Looking handsome in your fine uniforms. Dressing up and doing the terrible, terrible things you do. Its makes me ashamed.”

“I believe, Eragon, that you are full of love and that you are looking for one who will reciprocate your affection. No shame exists in that.”

“Pure logic can lead you to conclusions that are ethically wrong, whereas if you are moral and righteous, that will ensure that you don’t act shamefully.”

“I didn’t feel sad or happy. I didn’t feel proud or ashamed. I only felt that in spite of all the things I’d done wrong, in getting myself here, I’d done right.”

“I’m not afraid to compete. It’s just the opposite. Don’t you see that? I’m afraid I will compete - that’s what scares me. That’s why I quit the Theatre Department. Just because I’m so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else’s values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn’t make it right. I’m ashamed of it. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I’m sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of a splash.”

“At least you don’t have to have the evidence under your sweater. I’m a planet,”

“The most embarrassing, awkward moments of your life are only remembered by you and no one else”

“I am what I am, an’ I’m not ashamed. ‘Never be ashamed,’ my ol’ dad used ter say, ‘there’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth botherin’ with.‘”

“It’s always helpful to remember that when perfectionism is driving, shame is riding shotgun. Perfectionism is not healthy striving. It is not asking, How can I be my best self? Instead, it’s asking, What will people think?”

“My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”

“Else, I should long ago have thrown off these garments of mock holiness, and have shown myself to mankind as they will see me at the judgment-seat. Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!”

“There are and always will be some who, ashamed of the behaviour of their ancestors, try to prove that slavery was not so bad after all, that its evils and its cruelty were the exaggerations of propagandists and not the habitual lot of the slaves. Men will say (and accept) anything in order to foster national pride or soothe a troubled conscience.”

“When people are engaged in something they are not proud of, they do not welcome witnesses.”

“I. Felt. Ashamed. Ashamed, and embarrassed and stupid, because I had brought home the wrong child and I didn’t even know it.”

″ ‘And now, Tom, my boy,’ said the Squire, ‘remember you are going, at your own earnest request, to be chucked into this great school, like a young bear, with all your troubles before you -earlier than we should have sent you perhaps. If schools are what they were in my time, you’ll see a great many cruel blackguard things done, and hear a deal of foul, bad talk. But never fear. You tell the truth, keep a brave and kind heart, and never listen to or say anything you wouldn’t have your mother and sister hear, and you’ll never feel ashamed to come home, or we to see you.’ ”

“But when onlookers criticize his father for riding while Nasreddine walks, the boy is ashamed.”

“They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices; and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.”

“All the other tugboats made fun of Little Toot, calling him a silly tugboat who only knew how to play. Poor Little Toot. He felt ashamed and angry. As he sailed away, puffing a trail of smoke balls, the other boats just laughed at him.”

“The thought of a separation ran always the stronger in my mind; and the more I approved of it, the more ashamed I grew of my approval. It would be a fine, handsome, generous thing, indeed, for Alan to turn round and say to me: “Go, I am in the most danger, and my company only increases yours.” But for me to turn to the friend who certainly loved me, and say to him: “You are in great danger, I am in but little; your friendship is a burden; go, take your risks and bear your hardships alone––” no, that was impossible; and even to think of it privily to myself, made my cheeks to burn.”

“But by degrees, as she got more and more tired from crying, other thoughts drifted through her mind. Had she been rude? Had she been showing off? Inside she knew that she had, and she was ashamed, and though she was quite alone she turned red.”

“Marko’s father had been a true Soviet hero—and Marko was deeply ashamed to be his son.”

“and it ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we’re talking about when we talk about love.”