Mignon McLaughlin Quotes

With 'Seven Deadly Sins,' there was a lot of personal stuff in there that I didn't even realize I'd been carrying around for awhile. And a lot of guilt involved, a lot of emotion, a lot of depression. Once I was done writing that book, I was able to really let go of that stuff.

Concealment makes the soul a swamp. Confession is how you drain it.

I was being called to surrender the very citadel of my self. I was completely in the dark. I did not really know what repentance was or what I was required to repent of. It was indeed the turning point of my life.

People tell me it's a sin, to know and feel too much within.

When I cry - when I let myself cry - that's who I cry for. I don't cry for myself. I cry for the Cassie that's gone. And I wonder what that Cassie would think of me. The Cassie who kills.

If I cried me a river of all my confessions, would I drown in my shallow regret?

Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. “There is a rock of greed over here, Father. I can’t budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed?” God’s seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared.

The word 'confession,' to me, means needing to be absolved. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm not asking people to understand. I'd like to think that I tell stories and sometimes my life weaves through it.

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.

I broke down on Thursday, Nov. 3, and told Sheriff Howard Wells the truth. It wasn't easy, but after the truth was out, I felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders.

The interesting thing for me is, if I met Michael Peterson in person, I'd want him to let himself off the hook just a little bit.

I don't know, maybe it's because I was raised Catholic. Confession has always held a great appeal for me.

I really believe guilt finds its way out of a person.

I try not to regret too much. I find that feeling guilty takes up so much of my time already.

I suffer from Irish-Catholic guilt. Guilt is a good reality check. It keeps that 'do what makes you happy' thing in check.

A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession.

I don't think I understand the concept of regret. Because if I regret anything, that would mean, like, I hate myself.

I walk around feeling a sort of existential guilt all the time; and honestly for me this house is a way of feeling less guilty about the universe.

Our enemies are our evil deeds and their memories, our pride, our selfishness, our malice, our passions, which by conscience or by habit pursue us with a relentlessness past the power of figure to express.

Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.

I've been very clear publicly I'm not a perfect human being, and I've made mistakes in my life, and I've had to apologize to God and to seek reconciliation.

Playing a sinner is very liberating!

I was raised Catholic, so guilt shackles you from acting like a complete fool all the time.

Confession alone is not necessarily good for the soul.

I repent daily my sins, my faults, and my shortcomings.