Guilty Conscience Quotes to Overcome Your Guilt

Guilty conscience quotes are highly motivating. 

We have compiled them into a list for you to read and find motivation. 

Read these quotes and inspire yourself to bring out the positivity within your thoughts and your behavior. 

A guilty conscience is our inner voice, which bothers us when we have committed a wrongful act. 

Besides, there are some other facts about guilty conscience that you should know. 

So, if you are interested, please continue reading. 

Some words about guilty conscience

Having a guilty conscience is a natural human behavior. 

A guilty conscience is a kind of emotional response. 

“Conscious” and “conscience” have slightly different meanings but are linked together. 

For instance, ‘conscious’ means aware or awake, but conscience is a person’s moral sense, which helps us judge right and wrong. 

Being conscious keeps you aware of the act you shouldn’t have done. 

Hence, your conscience starts to bother you with the help of your consciousness. 

Here are some facts about a guilty conscience.

• A guilty conscience is among the most misused emotions.
• With the help of our guilty conscience, we can leave the wrong path and choose the right one. 
• A guilty conscience is psychological warfare tool that is widely abused.  

There are two types of guilty conscience: “Healthy Conscience” and “Unhealthy Conscience.” 

1. A healthy conscience is a natural feeling of guilt when someone commits a wrong. It motivates us to undo the wrong if possible and avoid doing it in the future. 
2. On the other hand, an unhealthy conscience is a temporary guilty conscience. This means it’s an unhealthy expression used by a person to punish oneself. 

In some cases, a guilty conscience might become a bigger problem, referred to as a chronic guilty conscience. 

If things extend to such a level, it usually and unconsciously triggers an emotional block. 

This type of conscience bothers you for no obvious reason. 

It’s usually associated with the vulnerability level of a person and his/her self-esteem.

Take a moment and read through our guilty conscience quotes and sayings.

Top 10 guilty conscience quotes

Following are some of the most demanding guilty conscience quotes. 

1. “How tedious is a guilty conscience!” — John Webster 

2. “A guilty conscience never feels secure.” — Publilius Syrus 

3. “A guilty conscience is the mother of invention.” — Carolyn Wells

4. “A guilty conscience means at least you have one.” — Jakob Dylan

5. “Few things are as bad as a guilty conscience.” — Buchi Emecheta 

6. “A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession.” — Albert Camus

7. “I have always eaten animal flesh with a somewhat guilty conscience.” — Albert Einstein

8. “Was ever any wicked man free from the stings of a guilty conscience?” — John Tillotson

9. “I would bear any affliction rather than be burdened with a guilty conscience.” — Charles Spurgeon 

10. “Charity has always been an expression of the guilty consciences of a ruling class.” — Doris Lessing

Check out our collection of good and evil quotes if you enjoy this article.

Guilty conscience quotes with powerful messages 

Here, you will find conscience quotes with a strong message. 

11. “Stricken by a guilty conscience, some men will say that I speak with excessive temerity about all men in general.” — Arcangela Tarabotti

12. “There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.” — Eric Hoffer

13. “For the longest time, marriage has had a guilty conscience about itself. Should we believe it?–Yes, we should believe it.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

14. “I have always admired him (Bergman), and I wish I could be an equally good filmmaker as he is, but it will never happen. His love for the cinema almost gives me a guilty conscience” — Steven Spielberg

15. “The dirt and scum that has attached itself to our hearts and minds is agitated and revealed by both the workings of a guilty conscience and the devouring avarice of the enemy of our souls.” — John Bunyan

16. “So what if I’m ninety-three? So what if I’m ancient and cranky and my body’s a wreck? If they’re willing to accept me and my guilty conscience, why the hell shouldn’t I run away with the circus?” — Sara Gruen

17. “Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain, Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away the stain: But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb, Takes all our sins away, A sacrifice of nobler nam’ And richer blood than they.” — Isaac Watts

18. “There are three things that earthly riches can never do; they can never satisfy divine justice, they can never pacify divine wrath, nor can they ever quiet a guilty conscience. And till these things are done man is undone.” — Thomas Brooks

19. “There comes a time when a man finds himself in front of a dark uncrossable abyss, which he himself has spent years digging. Then the man sees that on this god’s green earth there is but one true suffering: the torment of a guilty conscience.” — Ivo Andric

20. “While many believers walk around with a guilty conscience and feel disqualified to receive God’s promises, we are able to enter a level of freedom that assures us we are qualified at any moment to boldly enter His presence, to shine with His glory, and to do great exploits for His kingdom.” — Katherine Ruonala

Thoughtful guilty conscience quotes

These guilty conscience quotes are capable of empowering your conscience.

21. “A guilty conscience is not worth extra food.” — Ruta Sepetys

22. “A guilty conscience has nowhere to hide.” — Bangambiki Habyarimana

23. “When people are mean to others, it’s usually because they are insecure or have a guilty conscience.” — Unknown

24. “Sometimes all you need is one person with a guilty conscience to come forward and do the right thing. Often, the miracle you need resides inside of yourself, when you humbly ask for forgiveness.” — Shannon L. Alder 

25. “I climbed into Misery and called Uncle Bob. “We hooking up?” “Why does everything out of your mouth make me sound incestuous?” “Um, I wasn’t aware that it did. Perhaps you have a guilty conscience.” — Darynda Jones

26. “The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination.” — Eric Hoffer

27. “Those who have experienced the most have suffered so much that they have ceased to hate. Hate is more for those with a slightly guilty conscience, and who by chewing on old hate in times of peace wish to demonstrate how great they were during the war.” — Thor Heyerdahl

28. “There is just as much evil in all of us as there is good. We’re all continuously guilty, even if we’re not doing it intentionally to be evil. Here we are sitting in luxury hotels, living it up on the backs of others in the third world. We all have a guilty conscience, but we do very little about it.” — Michael Haneke

29. “A new kind of award has been added — the deathbed award. It is not an award of any kind. Either the recipient has not acted at all, was not nominated, or did not win the award the last few times around. It is intended to relieve the guilty conscience of the Academy members and save face in front of the public.” — Marlene Dietrich 

30. “This is what I know. Don’t settle for 40, 50, or even 80 percent. A relationship-it shouldn’t be too small or too tight or even a little scratchy. It shouldn’t take up space in your closet out of guilty conscience or convenience or a moment of desire. Do you hear me? It should be perfect for you. It should be lasting. Wait. Wait for 100 percent.” — Deb Caletti

Guilty conscience quotes for Instagram

Listed below are the most impressive and engaging conscience quotes worthy of sharing via Instagram.

31. “A guilty conscience needs no accuser.” — Unknown

32. “It sounds to me like he just has a guilty conscience” — Scott Riggs

33. “A guilty conscience speaks a thousand words…Just saying.” — Jasmine Lee

34. “It is enough for a poet to be the guilty conscience of his age.” — Saint-John Perse 

35. “One thing I know: I will never eat again without having a guilty conscience” — Unknown 

36. “If the truth scares you, know that it is your guilty conscience reacting to Truth.” — Billy Graham 

37. “The only restorative for a guilty conscience is a sight of Jesus suffering on the cross.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon

38. “Fear of dying must surely mean fear of how one dies. If one can be assured of a painless death, how can one fear it, unless one is a religious fanatic with a very guilty conscience?” — Dimitris Mita 

39. “Ha, no, that it’s always the wrong people who have the guilty conscience. Those who are really responsible for suffering in the world couldn’t care less. It’s the ones fighting for good who are consumed by remorse.” — David Lagercrantz

40. “A good conscience fears no witness, but a guilty conscience is solicitous even in solitude. If we do nothing but what is honest, let all the world know it. But if otherwise, what does it signify to have nobody else know it, so long as I know it myself? Miserable is he who slights that witness.” — Seneca

Some other interesting guilty conscience quotes 

Here are some other guilty conscience quotes that you might find interesting. 

41. “A guilty conscience is jealousy’s playground.” — L. Quick 

42. “Guilty conscience is the number one liar and the producer of suspicion.” — Unknown

43. “The promises made by a guilty conscience acknowledge and settle no debts.” — Tove Jansson

44. “A guilty conscience is a great blessing, but only if it drives us to come home.” — John R.W. Stott 

45. “He (John Puller) wanted to intimidate. Intimidated people with a guilty conscience often made mistakes.” — David Baldacci

46. “Many a criminal has finally given himself over to the authorities because the accusations of a guilty conscience were worse than prison bars.” — Billy Graham

47. “It’s always the wrong people who have the guilty conscience. Those who are really responsible for suffering in the world couldn’t care less.” — David Lagercrantz

48. “Worldlings may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them; but we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these through rich mercy.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon

49. “There is nothing to fear on earth but sin. Prison and death are nothing compared to a guilty conscience. If we are destined to suffer unjustly, if all the world forsakes us, God will not. Whatever happens, then, let us put our trust in God.” — Christoph Von Schmid 

50. “Fair play with others is primarily the practice of not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us. We tend to rub our guilty conscience against others the way we wipe dirty fingers on a rag. This is as evil a misuse of others as the practice of exploitation.” — Eric Hoffer

Which of these guilty conscience quotes is your favorite? 

When selecting our guilty conscience quotes, we created this collection by considering various aspects. 

First, we collected quotes that are popular and inspirational. 

We also added quotes that are easy to understand and can motivate you. 

Please let us know if you like our work by commenting in the section below. 

Tell us about your preferred guilty conscience quotes and sayings.