--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not buy repentance at so heavy a…" description: "\"I do not buy repentance at so heavy a cost as a thousand drachmae.\" — Aulus Gellius" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/aulus-gellius-45363_cost_i-do-not-buy-repentance-at-so-heavy-a-co_1268567.png" --- # I do not buy repentance at so heavy a cost as a thousand… ![“I do not buy repentance at so heavy a cost as a thousand drachmae.” quote by Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/aulus-gellius-45363_cost_i-do-not-buy-repentance-at-so-heavy-a-co_1268567.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/aulus-gellius-45363_cost_i-do-not-buy-repentance-at-so-heavy-a-co_1268567.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b0/aulus-gellius-45363_cost_i-do-not-buy-repentance-at-so-heavy-a-co_1268567.png) > “I do not buy repentance at so heavy a cost as a thousand drachmae.” [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Repentance should not be demanded at an excessively high price. **In simple terms:** Don't demand costly repentance. Key Takeaway Seek balanced accountability. Themes morality justice economics Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - legal penalties - social sanctions - personal guilt - restorative justice Key Concepts ethics philosophy law Questions to Reflect On - When is repentance too demanding? - How can accountability be fair? A Different Perspective High costs may deter genuine change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Repentance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repentance/) ## Related quotes > [I decline to buy repentance at the cost of ten thousand drachmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/i-decline-to-buy-repentance-at-the-cost-of-ten-thousand-drachmas/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [To invoke solely the weaker arguments and yet triumph is an art worth more than a hundred thousand drachmae.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/to-invoke-solely-the-weaker-arguments-and-yet-triumph-is-an-art-worth/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [“The robots cost a thousand credits, but we’d have been at”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcfarlane/the-robots-cost-a-thousand-credits-but-we-d-have-been-at/) [Jamie McFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcfarlane/) > [It may cost me twenty thousand francs; but for twenty thousand francs, I will have the right to rail against the iniquity of humanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/it-may-cost-me-twenty-thousand-francs-but-for-twenty-thousand-francs/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [“Repentance seemed like too loose of a word. I knew I’d been wrong, but that didn’t soften the blow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-aquino/repentance-seemed-like-too-loose-of-a-word-i-knew-i-d-been-wrong-but/) [Anna Aquino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-aquino/) > [Calamity, war, famine, plague, death, adversity, disease, injury do not necessarily produce repentance. We may become better in a calamity but it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/calamity-war-famine-plague-death-adversity-disease-injury-do-not/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [And in any preaching you do, admonish the people concerning repentance, and that nobody can be saved except he who receives the most holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-of-assisi/and-in-any-preaching-you-do-admonish-the-people-concerning-repentance/) [Francis of Assisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-of-assisi/) > [“If ours souls are thirsty, we can draw freely, livng water from the well of salvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/if-ours-souls-are-thirsty-we-can-draw-freely-livng-water-from-the/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I truly believe that one of the things that has been lacking in America is a spirit of repentance about the injustices of slavery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/i-truly-believe-that-one-of-the-things-that-has-been-lacking-in/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/a-man-does-not-have-to-feel-less-than-human-to-realize-his-sin/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [“There is salvation for every soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/there-is-salvation-for-every-soul/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“With repentance comes a change of mind that effects a change of direction, since one’s orientation of life is directed in faith to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrell-l-bock/with-repentance-comes-a-change-of-mind-that-effects-a-change-of/) Darrell L. Bock > [“To repent is depart from evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/to-repent-is-depart-from-evil/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/true-repentance-never-leads-to-despair-its-leads-home-it-leads-to/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) ## More by Aulus Gellius > [I see the beard and cloak, but I don't yet see a philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/i-see-the-beard-and-cloak-but-i-don-t-yet-see-a-philosopher/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [I see the beard and cloak, but I don't yet see a philosopher. -Video barbam et pallium; philosophum nondum video](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/i-see-the-beard-and-cloak-but-i-don-t-yet-see-a-philosopher-video/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [Many things happen between the cup and the upper lip.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/many-things-happen-between-the-cup-and-the-upper-lip/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [Another one of the old poets, whose name has escaped my memory at present, called Truth the daughter of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/another-one-of-the-old-poets-whose-name-has-escaped-my-memory-at/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [A man should be religious, not superstitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/a-man-should-be-religious-not-superstitious/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [There is another old poet whose name I do not now remember who said Truth is the daughter of Time. \[Lat., Alius quidam veterum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/there-is-another-old-poet-whose-name-i-do-not-now-remember-who-said-2/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [Truth is the daughter of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/truth-is-the-daughter-of-time/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) > [The spirits increase, vigor grows through a wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aulus-gellius/the-spirits-increase-vigor-grows-through-a-wound/) [Aulus Gellius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) [Explore all 9 Aulus Gellius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aulus-gellius/) ## More Cost quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. 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