Innocence

absence of guilt

Innocence is a term that describes the lack of guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. It may also be used to indicate a general lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, sin, or wrongdoing.

Innocence in genius, and candor in power, are both noble qualities. ~ Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
In vain do they think themselves innocent who appropriate to their own use alone those goods which God gave in common; by not giving to others that which they themselves receive, they become homicides and murderers, inasmuch as in keeping for themselves those things which would alleviate the sufferings of the poor, we may say that every day they cause the death of as many persons as they might have fed and did not. When, therefore, we offer the means of living to the indigent, we do not give them anything of ours, but that which of right belongs to them. It is less a work of mercy which we perform than the payment of a debt. ~ Gregory the Great

Quotes

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  • I'm innocent in my head, like a baby born dead.
  • Every life is a march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice.
    • Lyman Abbott, quoted in The Seven Powerful Secrets of Emotional Sex‎ (2005) by A. Vishwanath, p. 144.
  • Innocence once lost can never be regained.
  • Innocence most often is a good fortune and not a virtue.
    • Anatole France, in Les Dieux Ont Soif [The Gods Are Thirsty] (1912), Chapter XV.
  • In vain do they think themselves innocent who appropriate to their own use alone those goods which God gave in common; by not giving to others that which they themselves receive, they become homicides and murderers, inasmuch as in keeping for themselves those things which would alleviate the sufferings of the poor, we may say that every day they cause the death of as many persons as they might have fed and did not. When, therefore, we offer the means of living to the indigent, we do not give them anything of ours, but that which of right belongs to them. It is less a work of mercy which we perform than the payment of a debt.
  • That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end.
    • Lise Hand, quoted in The Truth in Words : Inspiring Quotes for the Reflective Mind (2002) by Paras, p. 107.
  • I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
  • Innocence once lost, is lost forever.
    • John Kitts, "The Unreasonableness of Human Merit", The Primitive Church Magazine (1849).
  • Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather: that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary.
  • I want to assure you that regardless of your circumstances, age, or sex, you can indeed start over, re-arousing from within yourself those earlier, more innocent expectations, feelings and beliefs. It is much better if you can imagine this endeavor more in the light of children’s play, in fact, rather than think of it as a deadly serious adult pursuit.
  • Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only. It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.
  • Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors.

Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations

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Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 395-96.
  • To see a world in a grain of sand,
    And a heaven in a wild flower:
    Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
    And eternity in an hour.
  • E'en drunken Andrew felt the blow
    That innocence can give,
    When its resistless accents flow
    To bid affection live.
  • O mon Dieu, conserve-moi innocente, donne la grandeur aux autres!
    O God, keep me innocent; make others great!
  • An age that melts with unperceiv'd decay,
    And glides in modest innocence away.
  • On devient innocent quand on est malheureux.
  • What can innocence hope for,
    When such as sit her judges are corrupted!
  • He's armed without that's innocent within.
  • Mais l'innocence enfin n'a rien à redouter.
    • Translated: But innocence has nothing to dread.
    • Jean Racine, Phèdre, III. 6.
  • Quam angusta innocentia est, ad legem bonum esse.
    • Translated: What narrow innocence it is for one to be good only according to the law.
    • Seneca the Younger, De Ira, II. 27.
  • We were as twinn'd lambs that did frisk i' the sun,
    And bleat the one at the other; what we chang'd
    Was innocence for innocence; we knew not
    The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dream'd
    That any did.
  • O, white innocence,
    That thou shouldst wear the mask of guilt to hide
    Thine awful and serenest countenance
    From those who know thee not!

See also

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