Quotes about Shame

Ignominy thirsts for respect.

It is a tragicomic fact that our proper upbringing has become an ally of the secret police. (...) The Tell the truth! imperative drummed into us so automatically that we feel ashamed of lying even to a secret policeman.

Her guilty conscience was as vague as original sin.

When I consider the blessings God has given and still continues to give me, I feel ashamed. I feel I have abused those blessings, barely using them profitably to become more like Christ. Still, God in His mercy gives us a little more time. We can begin all over again and repair the lost opportunity, returning with complete confidence to this kind Father, who is always ready to receive us lovingly.

I had a deeper understanding that no matter what situation would come my way, I would be in the hands of the Lord, and he would rescue me. I felt ashamed and guilty for how I'd complained to the Lord, but he was patient and loving to me, not treating me as I deserved, but gently helping me like an eagle tending her baby chicks.

There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty.

I've grown to admire the humor of a God who uses foolish things to shame the wisdom of this world, and weaklings to remind the strong that they may not be as mighty as they think they are.

For the church as we know it is a tragically dysfunctional family, in which some children are starving while others have food stashed in their closets. Some of us are living on the street while others have empty rooms in our homes. And, of course, there are all sorts of things being done that bring great dishonor and embarrassment to the family name.

Lord Jesus, Your love is beyond my understanding but I believe it's true. Right now I offer You my shame, the filthy rags of my past. I choose to step out of this storm of condemnation and into Your peace. Thank You for loving me and for making me worthy, In Your great name, amen.

My husband's a pediatrician, so he and I talk about parenting all the time. You can't raise children who have more shame resilience than you do.

Those who seek some sort of a higher purpose or 'universal goal,' who don't know what to live for, who moan that they must 'find themselves.' You hear it all around us. That seems to be the official bromide of our century. Every book you open. Every drooling self-confession. It seems to be the noble thing to confess. I'd think it would be the most shameful one.

I dropped to the ground and swept my hand across the smooth yellow tile. Oh, Father, I cried. There was no shame in your confusion. Just as there had been no shame in your father's before you. No shame in the fear, or in the fear of his father before him. There was only shame in the silence fear had produced. It was the silence that betrayed us.