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Crime: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
Nor all that heralds rake from coffin'd clay, Nor florid prose, nor honied lies of rhyme, Can blazon evil deeds, or consecrate a crime.— BYRON — Childe Harold. Canto I. St. 3.
But many a crime deemed innocent on earth Is registered in Heaven; and these no doubt Have each their record, with a curse annex'd.— COWPER — The Task. Bk. VI. L. 439.
Crime is not punished as an offense against God, but as prejudicial to society.— FROUDE — Short Studies on Great Sub-
jects. Reciprocal Duties of State and Subjects. Every crime destroys more Edens than our— NATH. HAWTHORNE — Marble Faun. Vol. I. Ch. XXIII.
'Tis no sin love's fruits to steal; But the sweet thefts to reveal; To be taken, to be seen, These have crimes accounted been.— BEN JONSON — Volpone. Act III. Sc. 6.
A man who has no excuse for crime, is in- . deed defenceless!— BULWER-LYTTON — The Lady of Lyons. Act IV. Sc. 1.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream. Julius Cæsar. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 63. Beyond the infinite and boundless reach Of mercy, if thou didst this deed of death, Art thou damn'd, Hubert.— Shakespeare — King John. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 117.
Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 257.
If little faults, proceeding on distemper, Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digested, Appear before us?— Shakespeare — Henry V. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 54.
O, would the deed were good! For now the devil, that told me I did well, Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.— Shakespeare — Richard II. Act V. Sc. 5. L. 115.
There shall be done A deed of dreadful note.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 43.
The time has been That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end; but now they rise again, With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, And push us from our stools.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act III. Sc. 4. L. 77.
Tremble, thou wretch, That has within thee undivulged crimes, Unwhipp'd of justice.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 51.
Unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles: infected minds To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 79.
Exemplo quodcumque malo committitur, ipsi Displicet auctori. Every crime will bring remorse to the man who committed it.— JUVENAL — Satiræ. XIII. 1.
Multi committunt eadem diverso crimina fato; Ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema. Many commit the same crimes with a very different result. One bears a cross for his crime; another a crown.— JUVENAL — Satira. XIII. 103.
Nam scelus intra se tacitum qui cogitat ullum, Facti crimen habet. For whoever meditates a crime is guilty of the deed.— JUVENAL — Satiræ. XIII. 209.
Se judice, nemo nocens absolvitur. By his own verdict no guilty man was ever acquitted.— JUVENAL — Satira. XIII. 2.
Nemo repente venit turpissimus. No one ever became very wicked all at once.— JUVENAL — Satiræ. II. 83.
Non faciat malum, ut inde veniat bonum. You are not to do evil that good may come of it. Law Maxim. Plus peccat auctor quam actor. The instigator of a crime is worse than he who perpetrates it. n. Law Maxim. Solent occupationis spe vel impune quædam scelesta committi. Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.— AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS — Annales.
XXX. 9. Ars fit ubi a teneris crimen condiscitur annis. Where crime is taught from early years, it becomes a part of nature.— OVID — Heroides. IV. 25.
Pœna potest demi, culpa perennis erit. The punishment can be remitted; the crime is everlasting.— OVID — Epistolæ Ex Ponto. I. 1. 64.
Ad auctores redit Sceleris coacti culpa. The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.— SENECA — Troades. 870.
Cui prodest scelus, Is fecit. He who profits by crime is guilty of it.— SENECA — Medea. 500.
Dumque punitur scelus, Crescit. While crime is punished it yet increases.— SENECA — Thyestes. XXXI.
Nefas nocere vel malo fratri puta. Consider it a crime to injure a brother even if he be wicked.— SENECA — Thyestes. CCXIX.
Nullum caruit exemplo nefas. No crime has been without a precedent.— SENECA — Hippolytus. 554.
Prosperum ac felix scelus Virtus vocatur; sontibus parent boni; Jus est in armis, opprimit leges timor. Successful crime is dignified with the name of virtue; the good become the slaves of the impious; might makes right; fear silences the power of the law.— SENECA — Hercules Furens. CCLI.
Qui non vetat peccare, cum possit, jubet. He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.— SENECA — Troades. CCXCI.
Scelere velandum est scelus. One crime has to be concealed by another. C.— SENECA — Hippolytus. 721.
Amici vitium si feras, facis tuum. If you share the crime of your friend, you make it your own.— SYRUS — Maxims.
Neque femina amissa pudicitiâ alia abnuerit. When a woman has lost her chastity, she will shrink from no crime.— TACITUS — Annales. IV. 3.
C'est plus qu'un crime, c'est une faute. It is more than a crime, it is a mistake. Attributed to TALLEYRAND, also to— FOUCHÉ
Du repos dans le crime! ah! qui peut s'en flatter. To be at peace in crime! ah, who can thus flatter himself.— VOLTAIRE — Oreste. I. 5.
La crainte suit le crime, et c'est son châtiment. Fear follows crime and is its punishment.— VOLTAIRE — Semiramis. V. 1.
Le crime d'une mère est un pesant fardeau. The crime of a mother is a heavy burden.— RACINE — Phèdre. III. 3.
Le crime fait la honte et non pas l'échafaud. The crime and not the scaffold makes the shame.— THOS. CORNEILLE — Essex. IV. 3.
Quoted by CHARLOTTE CORDAY. Denn alle Schuld rächt sich auf Erden. For all guilt is avenged on earth.— GOETHE — Wilhelm Meister.
Il reo D'un delitto è chi'l pensa: a chi l' ordisce La pena spetta. The guilty is he who meditates a crime; the punishment is his who lays the plot.— ALFIERI — Antigone. II. 2.
Non nella pena, Nel delitto è la infamia. Disgrace does not consist in the punishment, but in the crime. S.— ALFIERI — Antigone. I. 3.
Oh! ben provvide il cielo, Ch' uom per delitto mai lieto non sia. Heaven takes care that no man secures happiness by crime.— ALFIERI — Oreste. I. 2.