To confess a fault freely is the next thing to being innocent of it.

To confess a fault freely is the next thing to being innocent of it.

Confession is always weakness. The grave soul keeps its own secrets, and takes its own punishment in silence.

Confession is always weakness. The grave soul keeps its own secrets, and takes its own punishment in silence.

Faith is confirmed by the heart, confessed by the tongue, and acted upon by the body

Faith is confirmed by the heart, confessed by the tongue, and acted upon by the body

There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.

There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.

Nor do we find him forward to be sounded,
But with a crafty madness keeps aloof
When read more

Nor do we find him forward to be sounded,
But with a crafty madness keeps aloof
When we would bring him on to some confession
Of his true state.

Confess yourself to heaven,
Repent what's past, avoid what is to come,
And do not spread the read more

Confess yourself to heaven,
Repent what's past, avoid what is to come,
And do not spread the compost on the weeds
To make them ranker.

I own the soft impeachment.

I own the soft impeachment.

A man's very highest moment is, I have no doubt at all, when he kneels in the dust, and beats read more

A man's very highest moment is, I have no doubt at all, when he kneels in the dust, and beats his breast, and tells all the sins of his life.

Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff--it is a read more

Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff--it is a palliative rather than a remedy.