--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have committed many sins in my life…" description: "\"I have committed many sins in my life. This precise sin-the sin against poets-is without absolution.\" — E. L. Doctorow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/e-l-doctorow-4627_absolution_i-have-committed-many-sins-in-my-life-th_2341960.png" --- # I have committed many sins in my life. This precise… ![“I have committed many sins in my life. This precise sin-the sin against poets-is without absolution.” quote by E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/e-l-doctorow-4627_absolution_i-have-committed-many-sins-in-my-life-th_2341960.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/e-l-doctorow-4627_absolution_i-have-committed-many-sins-in-my-life-th_2341960.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/e-l-doctorow-4627_absolution_i-have-committed-many-sins-in-my-life-th_2341960.png) > “I have committed many sins in my life. This precise sin-the sin against poets-is without absolution.” [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A poet’s work is a sin when ignored or unacknowledged **In simple terms:** Sin against poets is neglecting their art Key Takeaway Respect and honor literary contributions Themes literature guilt artistic responsibility Mood reflective ethical Type literary cultural When to use this quote - teaching literature - publishing poetry - archiving works Key Concepts Poetry appreciation cultural memory Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor overlooked creators? - What responsibilities do we have toward artistic heritage? A Different Perspective Not all sins are equally weighted in society ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolution/) [Committed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/committed/) [Committed Sins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/committed-sins-253482/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets Absolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-absolution-5671264/) [Precise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precise/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sin Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin-poets-5671265/) [Sins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sins/) [Sins Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sins-life-879011/) ## Related quotes > [I have committed many sins in my life. But stealing money from the government, from the people, is not one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-marcos/i-have-committed-many-sins-in-my-life-but-stealing-money-from-the/) [Ferdinand Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-marcos/) > [He sins against this life, who slights the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/he-sins-against-this-life-who-slights-the-next/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [“Few of us ever acknowledge our sins in life, but in fiction, there must be redemption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cl-may/few-of-us-ever-acknowledge-our-sins-in-life-but-in-fiction-there-must/) [Cl may](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cl-may/) > [All the sins of your life seem to be rising up against you. Don't give up hope! On the contrary, call your holy mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josemaria-escriva/all-the-sins-of-your-life-seem-to-be-rising-up-against-you-don-t-give/) [Josemaria Escriva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josemaria-escriva/) > [I am the punishment of God. If you have not committed sins then God wouldn't have sent me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genghis-khan/i-am-the-punishment-of-god-if-you-have-not-committed-sins-then-god/) [Genghis Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genghis-khan/) > [If someone offends you, don't tell anyone about it except your elder, and you will be peaceful. Bow to everyone, paying no attention whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose/if-someone-offends-you-don-t-tell-anyone-about-it-except-your-elder/) [Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose/) > [There is a saying in India that the person who should throw a stone first is the person who has not committed any sins.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/there-is-a-saying-in-india-that-the-person-who-should-throw-a-stone/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Our most merciful Father, seeing us to be oppressed and overwhelmed with the curse of the law . . . sent his only Son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/our-most-merciful-father-seeing-us-to-be-oppressed-and-overwhelmed/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“8. Resolved, To act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/8-resolved-to-act-in-all-respects-both-speaking-and-doing-as-if/) [Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/) > [“I have committed many sins and acts of disobedience, if I decide to turn to God, would he turn to me?" She answered "No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabiyah-al-adawiyah-r-a/i-have-committed-many-sins-and-acts-of-disobedience-if-i-decide-to/) [Rabiyah al Adawiyah R.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabiyah-al-adawiyah-r-a/) > [You've committed no sins, just mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/you-ve-committed-no-sins-just-mistakes/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“There's absolution and purity to fucking that strips people back to their primal core.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-french/there-s-absolution-and-purity-to-fucking-that-strips-people-back-to/) [Kitty French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-french/) > [“There's a price for absolution on this planet, and it's called penance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spider-robinson/there-s-a-price-for-absolution-on-this-planet-and-it-s-called-penance/) [Spider Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spider-robinson/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/it-is-by-far-the-most-elegant-worship-hardly-excepting-the-greek/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [I tell you, guilt dwells nowhere but in the eyes of the accuser. This men know even as they deny it, which is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/i-tell-you-guilt-dwells-nowhere-but-in-the-eyes-of-the-accuser-this/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) ## More by E. L. Doctorow > [Things that appear on the front page of the newspaper as 'fact' are far more dangerous than the games played by a novelist, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/things-that-appear-on-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper-as-fact-are-far/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [There are moments when I cannot bear this unremitting consciousness. It knows only itself. Awake, I am in a continuum with my dreams. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/there-are-moments-when-i-cannot-bear-this-unremitting-consciousness/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Most people are quiet in the world, and live in it tentatively, as if it were not their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/most-people-are-quiet-in-the-world-and-live-in-it-tentatively-as-if/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [It is the immigrant hordes who keep this country alive, the waves of them arriving year after year… Who believes in America more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-is-the-immigrant-hordes-who-keep-this-country-alive-the-waves-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A book begins as a private excitement of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-book-begins-as-a-private-excitement-of-the-mind/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I started on computers with 'Billy Bathgate,' a little orange screen with black letters. I thought it was really cool, but it actually slowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-started-on-computers-with-billy-bathgate-a-little-orange-screen/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face the wall, not to look outside the window. The only way out is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Facts are the images of history, just as images are the facts of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/facts-are-the-images-of-history-just-as-images-are-the-facts-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [The nature of good fiction is that it dwells in ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/the-nature-of-good-fiction-is-that-it-dwells-in-ambiguity/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Uncharged with invisible meaning, the visible is nothing, mere clay; and without visible circumstance, a territory, to connect to, our spirit is shapeless, nameless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/uncharged-with-invisible-meaning-the-visible-is-nothing-mere-clay-and/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [“Writing a novel is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/writing-a-novel-is-like-driving-at-night-in-the-fog-you-can-only-see/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-did-have-a-feeling-then-that-the-culture-of-factuality-was-so/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I got married very early, and in no time at all, we had three children. And it seemed to me I had an obligation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-got-married-very-early-and-in-no-time-at-all-we-had-three-children/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-you-re-writing-a-book-you-don-t-really-think-about-it-critically/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A writer's life is so hazardous that anything he does is bad for him. Anything that happens to him is bad: failure's bad, success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-writer-s-life-is-so-hazardous-that-anything-he-does-is-bad-for-him/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) [Explore all 108 E. L. Doctorow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## More Absolution quotes > [I tell you, guilt dwells nowhere but in the eyes of the accuser. This men know even as they deny it, which is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/i-tell-you-guilt-dwells-nowhere-but-in-the-eyes-of-the-accuser-this/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/it-is-by-far-the-most-elegant-worship-hardly-excepting-the-greek/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“There's a price for absolution on this planet, and it's called penance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spider-robinson/there-s-a-price-for-absolution-on-this-planet-and-it-s-called-penance/) [Spider Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spider-robinson/) > [“There's absolution and purity to fucking that strips people back to their primal core.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-french/there-s-absolution-and-purity-to-fucking-that-strips-people-back-to/) [Kitty French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-french/) > [From sorrow to serenity, the truth is absolution, from sorrow to serenity, its on your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killswitch-engage/from-sorrow-to-serenity-the-truth-is-absolution-from-sorrow-to/) [Killswitch Engage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killswitch-engage/) > [“Being alone will show you who you really are, and if you cannot get-on positively as the sole master of your space in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/being-alone-will-show-you-who-you-really-are-and-if-you-cannot-get-on/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Our own acts are isolated and one act does not buy absolution for another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/our-own-acts-are-isolated-and-one-act-does-not-buy-absolution-for/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“Time made apologies and absolution unnecessary. Time didn't really heal, it just made bad memories distant so that the brain couldn't recapture the lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amulya-malladi/time-made-apologies-and-absolution-unnecessary-time-didn-t-really/) [Amulya Malladi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amulya-malladi/) > [“Pause your opinions, debating and absolute knowing for long enough to conceive gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/pause-your-opinions-debating-and-absolute-knowing-for-long-enough-to/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“Psychoanalysis is confession without absolution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/psychoanalysis-is-confession-without-absolution/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“I find something repulsive about the idea of vicarious redemption. I would not throw my numberless sins onto a scapegoat and expect them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-find-something-repulsive-about-the-idea-of-vicarious-redemption-i/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-the-confession-not-the-priest-that-gives-us-absolution/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [There is nothing absolute and final. If everything were ironclad, all the rules absolute and everything structured so no paradox or irony existed, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/itzhak-bentov/there-is-nothing-absolute-and-final-if-everything-were-ironclad-all/) [Itzhak Bentov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/itzhak-bentov/) > [The truth brings with it a great measure of absolution, always.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-truth-brings-with-it-a-great-measure-of-absolution-always/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [For one thing, the Catholic Church in particular has this one thing - confession - in which you could go, confess to a priest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/for-one-thing-the-catholic-church-in-particular-has-this-one-thing/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) [Browse all 89 Absolution quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolution/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have committed many sins in my life. This precise sin-the sin against poets-is without absolution.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. L. 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