--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: See! those fiendish lineaments graven on…" description: "\"See! those fiendish lineaments graven on the darkness, the writhed lip of scorn, the mockery of that living eye, the pointed finger, touching the sore ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_caverns_see-those-fiendish-lineaments-graven-on_820232.jpg" --- # See! those fiendish lineaments graven on the darkness, the… ![“See! those fiendish lineaments graven on the darkness, the writhed lip of scorn, the mockery of that living eye, the pointed finger, touching the sore place in your heart! Do you remember any act of enormous folly, at which you would blush, even in the remotest cavern of the earth? Then recognize…” quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_caverns_see-those-fiendish-lineaments-graven-on_820232.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_caverns_see-those-fiendish-lineaments-graven-on_820232.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_caverns_see-those-fiendish-lineaments-graven-on_820232.jpg) > “See! those fiendish lineaments graven on the darkness, the writhed lip of scorn, the mockery of that living eye, the pointed finger, touching the sore place in your heart! Do you remember any act of enormous folly, at which you would blush, even in the remotest cavern of the earth? Then recognize your Shame.” [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid description urging recognition of personal shame and past folly. **In simple terms:** Recall past mistakes and feel shame. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and learn from past errors. Themes shame reflection morality Mood somber introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal introspection - ethical decision making - confession Key Concepts guilt self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - What does your shame teach you? - Can shame be transformed into growth? A Different Perspective Shame can paralyze rather than motivate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caverns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caverns/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Enormous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Fiendish Lineaments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiendish-lineaments-467184/) [Fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fingers/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips/) [Mockery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mockery/) [Recognize Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognize-shame-398703/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Scorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scorn/) [Scorn Mockery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scorn-mockery-467183/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Sore Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sore-place-467185/) [Touching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touching/) ## Related quotes > [He laughed, and the sound reduced the pain of every sore place on my body to the dullest ache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammara-webber/he-laughed-and-the-sound-reduced-the-pain-of-every-sore-place-on-my/) [Tammara Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammara-webber/) > [The best tonic for soreness is to do the movement that got you sore in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-john/the-best-tonic-for-soreness-is-to-do-the-movement-that-got-you-sore/) [Dan John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-john/) > [Some persons take reproof good-humoredly enough, unless you are so unlucky as to hit a sore place. Then they wince and writhe, and start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/some-persons-take-reproof-good-humoredly-enough-unless-you-are-so/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [“I can recognize shame when it’s happening.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/i-can-recognize-shame-when-it-s-happening/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“According to Dr. Hartling, in order to deal with shame, some of us move away by withdrawing, hiding, silencing ourselves, and keeping secrets. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/according-to-dr-hartling-in-order-to-deal-with-shame-some-of-us-move/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“The greatest gift of having done this work (the research and the personal work) is that I can recognize shame when it’s happening. First,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/the-greatest-gift-of-having-done-this-work-the-research-and-the/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“And if we all have shame, the good news is that we’re all capable of developing shame resilience. Shame resilience is the ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/and-if-we-all-have-shame-the-good-news-is-that-we-re-all-capable-of/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [I am an emptiness for Thee to fill; my soul a cavern for Thy sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/i-am-an-emptiness-for-thee-to-fill-my-soul-a-cavern-for-thy-sea/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. Many are those who talk like the roar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/believing-is-a-fine-thing-but-placing-those-beliefs-into-execution-is/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Guess what it is that turns plants to coal. Pressure. Guess what it is that turns limestone to marble. Pressure. Guess what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-billingsley/guess-what-it-is-that-turns-plants-to-coal-pressure-guess-what-it-is/) [Franny Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-billingsley/) > [I know, perhaps as well as anyone, what depression means, and what it is to feel myself sinking lower and lower. Yet at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-know-perhaps-as-well-as-anyone-what-depression-means-and-what-it-is/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-enter-a-grove-peopled-with-ancient-trees-higher-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Birth: The first and direst of all disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/birth-the-first-and-direst-of-all-disasters/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [The beauty of New York is unintentional; it arose independent of human design, like a stalagmite cavern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-beauty-of-new-york-is-unintentional-it-arose-independent-of-human/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Explore all 526 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## More Caverns quotes > [The beauty of New York is unintentional; it arose independent of human design, like a stalagmite cavern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-beauty-of-new-york-is-unintentional-it-arose-independent-of-human/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Birth: The first and direst of all disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/birth-the-first-and-direst-of-all-disasters/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-enter-a-grove-peopled-with-ancient-trees-higher-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know, perhaps as well as anyone, what depression means, and what it is to feel myself sinking lower and lower. Yet at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-know-perhaps-as-well-as-anyone-what-depression-means-and-what-it-is/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Guess what it is that turns plants to coal. Pressure. Guess what it is that turns limestone to marble. Pressure. Guess what it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-billingsley/guess-what-it-is-that-turns-plants-to-coal-pressure-guess-what-it-is/) [Franny Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-billingsley/) > [Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. Many are those who talk like the roar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/believing-is-a-fine-thing-but-placing-those-beliefs-into-execution-is/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [I am an emptiness for Thee to fill; my soul a cavern for Thy sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/i-am-an-emptiness-for-thee-to-fill-my-soul-a-cavern-for-thy-sea/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [What shall we do, all of us? All of us oassionate girls who fear crushing the boys we love with our mouths like caverns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/what-shall-we-do-all-of-us-all-of-us-oassionate-girls-who-fear/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled, Mountains of Casuistry heap'd o'er her head! Philosophy, that lean'd on Heav'n before, Shrinks to her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/see-skulking-truth-to-her-old-cavern-fled-mountains-of-casuistry-heap/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Deep in the cavern of the infant's breast; the father's nature lurks, and lives anew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/deep-in-the-cavern-of-the-infant-s-breast-the-father-s-nature-lurks/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/in-xanadu-did-kubla-khan-a-stately-pleasure-dome-decree-where-alph/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Enchanted worlds still exist because the child within us never dies. The doorways may be more obscure, but we can still seek them out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-andrews/enchanted-worlds-still-exist-because-the-child-within-us-never-dies/) [Ted Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-andrews/) > [It's a physical urge, huger and stronger than thirst or sex. Halfway back on the left side of my head there is a spot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hegland/it-s-a-physical-urge-huger-and-stronger-than-thirst-or-sex-halfway/) [Jean Hegland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hegland/) > [Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/fresh-beauty-opens-one-s-eyes-wherever-it-is-really-seen-but-the-very/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) [Browse all 75 Caverns quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caverns/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "See! those fiendish lineaments graven on the darkness, the writhed lip of scorn, the mockery of that living eye, the pointed finger, touching the sore place in your heart! Do you remember any act of enormous folly, at which you would blush, even in the remotest cavern of the earth? 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