What does the truth matter? Haven't we mothers all given our sons a taste for lies, lies which from the cradle upwards lull them, reassure them, send them to sleep: lies as soft and warm as a breast!
Georges BernanosRead
Who are you to condemn another's sin? He who condemns sin becomes part of it, espouses it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that criticizing others for their mistakes can lead one to share in the same faults.
Georges Bernanos highlights the hypocrisy of condemning others for their sins, suggesting that such judgment renders the condemner complicit in the very actions they denounce. The quote urges introspection and self-awareness rather than external judgment, as it implies that to judge anotherβs wrongdoing may blur the lines of oneβs own moral integrity.
Themes
CondemnationHypocrisySelf-AwarenessMoralityJudgment
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about ethical behavior, this quote emphasizes the need for compassion rather than judgment.
More from Georges Bernanos
All quotes βFear, true fear, is a savage frenzy. Of all the insanities of which we are capable, it is surely the cruelest. There is naught to equal its drive, and naught can survive its thrust.
Georges BernanosRead
I know the compassion of others is a relief at first. I don't despise it. But it can't quench pain, it slips through your soul as through a sieve. And when our suffering has been dragged from one pity to another, as from one mouth to another, we can no longer respect or love it.
Georges BernanosRead
It's a fine thing to rise above pride, but you must have pride in order to do so.
Georges BernanosRead
Hell, madame, is to love no longer.
Georges BernanosRead
God! how is it that we fail to recognize that the mask of pleasure, stripped of all hypocrisy, is that of anguish?
Georges BernanosRead
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