--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A private sin is not so prejudicial in…" description: "\"A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.\" — Miguel de Cervantes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png" --- # A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a… ![“A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.” quote by Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png) > “A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.” [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public indecency harms society more than private sins, which are less visible. **In simple terms:** Public indecency is worse. Key Takeaway Promote public moral standards. Themes morality public vs private social impact Mood critical thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - law enforcement - community standards - media ethics Key Concepts ethics social philosophy Questions to Reflect On - When is private sin harmful? - How to balance privacy and public good? A Different Perspective Privacy rights must be respected. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Indecency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indecency/) [Prejudicial World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudicial-world-3417484/) [Private Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-sin-3417482/) [Public Indecency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-indecency-700713/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sin Prejudicial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin-prejudicial-3417483/) [Sinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinner/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“You mean that a Frenchman could share with a friend and yet not go to prison?’ ‘Share? Do you mean unite? If both are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/you-mean-that-a-frenchman-could-share-with-a-friend-and-yet-not-go-to/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [To create a public scandal is what's wicked; to sin in private is not a sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/to-create-a-public-scandal-is-what-s-wicked-to-sin-in-private-is-not/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [One way in which all of us can help to combat the current wave of public indecency which threatens to undermine Western civilization is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-kelly/one-way-in-which-all-of-us-can-help-to-combat-the-current-wave-of/) [Grace Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-kelly/) > [“Why should the private pleasure of some one Become the public plague of many moe? Let sin, alone committed, light alone Upon his head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/why-should-the-private-pleasure-of-some-one-become-the-public-plague/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“But to betray her with battalion... That is against decency, against Nature...And for him, Christopher tietjens, to come down to the level of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/but-to-betray-her-with-battalion-that-is-against-decency-against/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [Currently under FCC policy, indecency determinations hinge on two factors. First, material must describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities. Second, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-ose/currently-under-fcc-policy-indecency-determinations-hinge-on-two/) [Doug Ose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-ose/) > [Decency cannot be discussed without indecency!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/decency-cannot-be-discussed-without-indecency/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“...the restaurant itself is weird especially because of a big raunch mad thicklipped sloppy young Fillipino woman sitting alone at the end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-restaurant-itself-is-weird-especially-because-of-a-big-raunch-mad/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity - these are strictly confined to man; he invented them. Among the higher animals there is no trace of them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/indecency-vulgarity-obscenity-these-are-strictly-confined-to-man-he/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Marriage, as practised by high society, is arranged indecency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/marriage-as-practised-by-high-society-is-arranged-indecency/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [Nail up some indecency in plain sight over your door; from that time forward you will be rid of all respectable people,the most insupportable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/nail-up-some-indecency-in-plain-sight-over-your-door-from-that-time/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [“He was an indecent man, I told myself - prayerfully - and then I prayed for him to become decent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-brickl/he-was-an-indecent-man-i-told-myself-prayerfully-and-then-i-prayed/) [Kelsey Brickl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-brickl/) > [Decency is indecency's conspiracy of silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/decency-is-indecency-s-conspiracy-of-silence/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I could not remove myself from this debate about Trump. I could not abide his indecency. I could not live with the way he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-waters/i-could-not-remove-myself-from-this-debate-about-trump-i-could-not/) [Maxine Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-waters/) > [The older one grows, the more one likes indecency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-older-one-grows-the-more-one-likes-indecency/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Miguel de Cervantes > [Beware, gentle knight - the greatest monster of them all is reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/beware-gentle-knight-the-greatest-monster-of-them-all-is-reason/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [He had a face like a blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/he-had-a-face-like-a-blessing/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to submit to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-one-thing-to-praise-discipline-and-another-to-submit-to-it/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Those who'll play with cats must expect to be scratched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/those-who-ll-play-with-cats-must-expect-to-be-scratched/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“So it appears to me, for when he could and should have wielded his pen to praise the virtues of so good a knight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/so-it-appears-to-me-for-when-he-could-and-should-have-wielded-his-pen/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/too-much-sanity-may-be-madness-and-maddest-of-all-to-see-life-as-it/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Old, that's an affront no woman can well bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/old-that-s-an-affront-no-woman-can-well-bear/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [One should not talk of hatters in the house of the hanged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-should-not-talk-of-hatters-in-the-house-of-the-hanged/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [It is courage that vanquishes in war, and not good weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-courage-that-vanquishes-in-war-and-not-good-weapons/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [I follow a more easy, and, in my opinion, a wiser course, namely--to inveigh against the levity of the female sex, their fickleness, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/i-follow-a-more-easy-and-in-my-opinion-a-wiser-course-namely-to/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Every man is as heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/every-man-is-as-heaven-made-him-and-sometimes-a-great-deal-worse/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Great people create great acts of kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/great-people-create-great-acts-of-kindness/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [One day, in the San Francisco walk, he came upon some badly painted figures and observed that good painters imitate nature but bad ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-day-in-the-san-francisco-walk-he-came-upon-some-badly-painted/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/drink-moderately-for-drunkeness-neither-keeps-a-secret-nor-observes-a/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) [Explore all 386 Miguel de Cervantes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## More Indecency quotes > [“...the restaurant itself is weird especially because of a big raunch mad thicklipped sloppy young Fillipino woman sitting alone at the end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-restaurant-itself-is-weird-especially-because-of-a-big-raunch-mad/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“He was an indecent man, I told myself - prayerfully - and then I prayed for him to become decent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-brickl/he-was-an-indecent-man-i-told-myself-prayerfully-and-then-i-prayed/) [Kelsey Brickl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-brickl/) > [Decency is indecency's conspiracy of silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/decency-is-indecency-s-conspiracy-of-silence/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“But to betray her with battalion... That is against decency, against Nature...And for him, Christopher tietjens, to come down to the level of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/but-to-betray-her-with-battalion-that-is-against-decency-against/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [I could not remove myself from this debate about Trump. I could not abide his indecency. I could not live with the way he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-waters/i-could-not-remove-myself-from-this-debate-about-trump-i-could-not/) [Maxine Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-waters/) > [The older one grows, the more one likes indecency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-older-one-grows-the-more-one-likes-indecency/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Nail up some indecency in plain sight over your door; from that time forward you will be rid of all respectable people,the most insupportable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/nail-up-some-indecency-in-plain-sight-over-your-door-from-that-time/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Marriage, as practised by high society, is arranged indecency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/marriage-as-practised-by-high-society-is-arranged-indecency/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity - these are strictly confined to man; he invented them. Among the higher animals there is no trace of them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/indecency-vulgarity-obscenity-these-are-strictly-confined-to-man-he/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Decency cannot be discussed without indecency!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/decency-cannot-be-discussed-without-indecency/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Currently under FCC policy, indecency determinations hinge on two factors. First, material must describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities. Second, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-ose/currently-under-fcc-policy-indecency-determinations-hinge-on-two/) [Doug Ose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-ose/) > [“There are people on whom even clean linen looks indecent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/there-are-people-on-whom-even-clean-linen-looks-indecent/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things - bad language and whatever - it's all caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/the-whole-problem-with-this-idea-of-obscenity-and-indecency-and-all/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“Neither the state guards nor the municipal police stopped me. What they saw going by was no longer a man but the curious product…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/neither-the-state-guards-nor-the-municipal-police-stopped-me-what/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [As a society, there are times when we need to stand together against indecency and cruelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jemele-hill/as-a-society-there-are-times-when-we-need-to-stand-together-against/) [Jemele Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jemele-hill/) [Browse all 22 Indecency quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indecency/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Miguel de Cervantes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-this-world-as-a-public/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Indecency" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-this-world-as-a-public/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/miguel-de-cervantes-715_indecency_a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-t_2796425.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.” — Miguel de Cervantes", "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": "Miguel de Cervantes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A private sin is not so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-this-world-as-a-public/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/a-private-sin-is-not-so-prejudicial-in-this-world-as-a-public/#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 } } ] } ```