--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not any crime you have committed…" description: "\"“It is not any crime you have committed that infects your soul with permanent guilt, it is none of your failures, errors or flaws, but the blank-out by..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg" --- # It is not any crime you have committed that infects your… ![“It is not any crime you have committed that infects your soul with permanent guilt, it is none of your failures, errors or flaws, but the blank-out by which you attempt to evade them - it is not any sort of Original Sin or unknown prenatal deficiency, but the knowledge and fact of your basic…” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg) > ““It is not any crime you have committed that infects your soul with permanent guilt, it is none of your failures, errors or flaws, but the blank-out by which you attempt to evade them - it is not any sort of Original Sin or unknown prenatal deficiency, but the knowledge and fact of your basic default, of suspending your mind, of refusing to think. Fear and guilt are your chronic emotions, they are real and you do deserve them, but they don't come from the superficial reasons you invent to disguise their cause, not from your "selfishness," weakness or ignorance, but from a real and basic threat to your existence; fear, because you have abandoned your weapon of survival, guilt, because you know you have done it volitionally.”” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We are haunted by guilt and fear not because of our mistakes but because we avoid confronting our own fundamental choices and the threat to our existence. **In simple terms:** Guilt and fear stem from avoidance of personal responsibility. Key Takeaway Face your choices directly. Themes responsibility existence psychology Mood reflective serious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal decision making - mental health therapy - ethical leadership Key Concepts existentialism self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How does avoidance create chronic guilt? - What does confronting your basic default change? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Original sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original-sin/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) ## Related quotes > [Anyone who's been poor and gets rich is stalked by guilt and fear. Guilt because you know it isn't fair, that life hasn't changed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/anyone-who-s-been-poor-and-gets-rich-is-stalked-by-guilt-and-fear/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [He that knows no guilt can know no fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/he-that-knows-no-guilt-can-know-no-fear/) [Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/) > [I know you would never do anything to hurt me, and perhaps that's why I feel such guilt. Because I know your heart belongs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-gilden/i-know-you-would-never-do-anything-to-hurt-me-and-perhaps-that-s-why/) Joanne Gilden > [That instant pain of guilt when you know you have betrayed the person that just trusted his life to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monika-geidane/that-instant-pain-of-guilt-when-you-know-you-have-betrayed-the-person/) Monika Geidane > [“It is strange the way that someone who wants to find you guilty can start to make you believe in your own guilt, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-parris/it-is-strange-the-way-that-someone-who-wants-to-find-you-guilty-can/) [S.J. Parris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-parris/) > [My husband is a very present husband, and that has made going to work feel easier. I don't feel guilty. I definitely feel less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/my-husband-is-a-very-present-husband-and-that-has-made-going-to-work/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [“What is the nature of the guilt that your teachers call his Original Sin? What are the evils man acquired when he fell from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/what-is-the-nature-of-the-guilt-that-your-teachers-call-his-original/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Don't let fear and guilt control you, for they are the products of man made dogmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marley/don-t-let-fear-and-guilt-control-you-for-they-are-the-products-of-man/) [Peter Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marley/) > [“Environmentalists, by and large, are very deeply invested in tactics that have worked to their satisfaction over the last thirty years, namely scaring and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roszak/environmentalists-by-and-large-are-very-deeply-invested-in-tactics/) [Theodore Roszak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roszak/) > [“…the actions driven by fear and guilt are not an antidote to lukewarm, selfish, comfortable living. I hope you realize that the answer is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/the-actions-driven-by-fear-and-guilt-are-not-an-antidote-to-lukewarm/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [“Everything was so much sharper without the Link fogging me--sights, sounds, smells. It was exhilarating and shocking and terrifying. I knew my emotions had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-anastasiu/everything-was-so-much-sharper-without-the-link-fogging-me-sights/) [Heather Anastasiu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-anastasiu/) > [“Fear and guilt are the dark angels that haunt rich men, Khader said to me once. I wasn't sure if that was true, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/fear-and-guilt-are-the-dark-angels-that-haunt-rich-men-khader-said-to/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [Acts that proceed from your calm center are always more effective than acts that proceed from fear, guilt, or anger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/acts-that-proceed-from-your-calm-center-are-always-more-effective/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Fear and Guilt are the only enemies of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/fear-and-guilt-are-the-only-enemies-of-man/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [It always feels better when you just be honest instead of hiding the truth and living in fear and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-always-feels-better-when-you-just-be-honest-instead-of-hiding-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Guilt quotes > [Never fight on the wrong side; you might win but the burden of guilt is more than a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilian-salan/never-fight-on-the-wrong-side-you-might-win-but-the-burden-of-guilt/) [Lilian Salan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilian-salan/) > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [When the Lord Jesus Christ became my surety . . . He went to Calvary's cross, and all my guilt was charged against Him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-allen-ironside/when-the-lord-jesus-christ-became-my-surety-he-went-to-calvary-s/) [Henry Allen Ironside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-allen-ironside/) > [“Even in the miserable guilt we feel over our beastlike insensitivity, the glory of God shines. If God were not gloriously desirable, why would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/even-in-the-miserable-guilt-we-feel-over-our-beastlike-insensitivity/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Regrets are just a way for the foolish and the guilty to pass the time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gensoumaden-saiyuki/regrets-are-just-a-way-for-the-foolish-and-the-guilty-to-pass-the-time/) Gensoumaden Saiyuki > [(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-f-we-are-going-to-be-kind-let-it-be-out-of-simple-generosity-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Money should not be in the hands of individuals; otherwise it will create this problem of being burdened with guilt. And money can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/money-should-not-be-in-the-hands-of-individuals-otherwise-it-will/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Food ... love ... mother ... career ... Live every day to the fullest. Partake of the four basic guilt groups.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-guisewite/food-love-mother-career-live-every-day-to-the-fullest-partake-of-the/) [Cathy Guisewite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-guisewite/) > [Anger was better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anger-was-better-than-tears-better-than-grief-better-than-guilt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Phil and Hannah had decided that Christian guilt was better than bad math”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-janzen/phil-and-hannah-had-decided-that-christian-guilt-was-better-than-bad/) [rhoda janzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-janzen/) > [No amount of guilt can solve the past & No amount of anxiety can change the future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananymous/no-amount-of-guilt-can-solve-the-past-no-amount-of-anxiety-can-change/) [Ananymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananymous/) > [The essence of having fun is enjoying without guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-essence-of-having-fun-is-enjoying-without-guilt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) [Browse all 2,943 Guilt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is not any crime you have committed that infects your soul with permanent guilt, it is none of your failures, errors or flaws, but the blank-out by which you attempt to evade them - it is not any sort of Original Sin or unknown prenatal deficiency, but the knowledge and fact of your basic default, of suspending your mind, of refusing to think. Fear and guilt are your chronic emotions, they are real and you do deserve them, but they don't come from the superficial reasons you invent to disguise their cause, not from your \"selfishness,\" weakness or ignorance, but from a real and basic threat to your existence; fear, because you have abandoned your weapon of survival, guilt, because you know you have done it volitionally.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-that-infects-your-soul-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Guilt" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-that-infects-your-soul-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/ayn-rand-59_original-sin_it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-t_1126820.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not any crime you have committed that infects your soul with permanent guilt, it is none of your…” — Ayn Rand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ayn Rand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is not any crime you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-that-infects-your-soul-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/it-is-not-any-crime-you-have-committed-that-infects-your-soul-with/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```