“That we are capable only of being what we are remains our unforgivable sin.”
Source: The Claw of the Conciliator
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Gene Wolfe102
American science fiction and fantasy writer 1931–2019Related quotes
“No sin is unforgivable except the sin that is not repented of.”
Sophrony (Sakharov) (1896–1993) Russian monk, theologian and writer
Source: Saint Silouan the Athonite (1991), p. 83
“We are ever capable of change and ever capable of being our better selves”
Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Princess
Source: Clockwork Princess
“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer
Familiar Studies of Men and Books http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/fsomb10.txt (1882).
Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) writer and salonist
In "Gods", ADAM International Review, No. 299 (1962)
“It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing.”
José Martí (1853–1895) Poet, writer, Cuban nationalist leader
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Context: To busy oneself with what is futile when one can do something useful, to attend to what is simple when one has the mettle to attempt what is difficult, is to strip talent of its dignity. It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing.
“Your unforgivable sins do not allow you to see my splendor.”
Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature
"The masked dyer Hakim of Merv" [El tintorero enmascarado Hakim de Merv] Universal History of Infamy (1935); also translated as "Hakim, Masked Dyer of Merv" ( review of "Hakim, Masked Dyer of Merv" http://www.elimae.com/reviews/borges/merv.html)
“Only the person who is essentially capable of remaining silent is capable of speaking essentially.”
Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism