We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
OvidRead
The penalty may be removed, the crime is eternal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The consequences of our actions may fade, but the nature of those actions remains.
Ovid's quote suggests that while the legal or societal repercussions of our actions might eventually be lifted or forgotten, the moral implications and the essence of the actions themselves persist over time. This reflects on the idea that certain wrongdoings carry a weight and significance that outlast any temporal punishment, emphasizing the importance of integrity and conscience.
Themes
CrimePenaltyEternalConsequencesMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about accountability in ethics courses.
More from Ovid
All quotes βAll things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins.
OvidRead
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
OvidRead
Fas est ab hoste doceri._x000D_ One should learn even from one's enemies.
OvidRead
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.
OvidRead
The end doesn't justify the means.
OvidRead
Similar quotes
There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
John LennonRead
Why do we not care to acknowledge them? The cattle, the body count. We still don't like to admit the war was even partly our fault because so many of our people died. A photograph on every mantlepiece. And all this mourning has veiled the truth. It's not so much lest we forget, as lest we remember. Because you should realise the Cenotaph and the Last Post and all that stuff is concerned, there's no better way of forgetting something than by commemorating it.
Alan BennettRead
On television I feel like a man playing piano in a brothel; every now and again he solaces himself by playing 'Abide with Me' in the hope of edifying both the clients and the inmates
Malcolm MuggeridgeRead
To me, ideology is corrupt; it's a parasite on religious structures. To be an ideologue is to have all of the terrible things that are associated with religious certainty and none of the utility. If you're an ideologue, you believe everything that you think. If you're religious, there's a mystery left there.
Jordan PetersonRead
Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.
Zadie SmithRead
A man who lives unrelated to other human beings dies. But a man who lives unrelated to himself also dies.
Anais NinRead