--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you excuse yourself in confession, you…" description: "\"If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon.\" — Saint Augustine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png" --- # If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin… ![“If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon.” quote by Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png) > “If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon.” [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Confession can suppress inner sin, but also blocks the possibility of divine forgiveness, suggesting that silence hinders redemption. **In simple terms:** Keeping sin secret stops pardon. Key Takeaway Speak openly to receive forgiveness. Themes faith forgiveness spirituality Mood reflective solemn Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - confessional practice - personal guilt - spiritual counseling - church community Key Concepts theology psychology sin Questions to Reflect On - How does silence affect inner peace? - What role does confession play in healing? A Different Perspective Silence may protect reputation but deepens inner turmoil. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) [Confession Shut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession-shut-2350624/) [Excuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuse/) [Excuse Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuse-confession-2350622/) [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Pardon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pardon/) [Shut Pardon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut-pardon-2350625/) [Shut Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut-sin-2350623/) [Shut up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut-up/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Your soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-soul/) ## Related quotes > [Oh, Al, shut up! Stop criticizing me! First I'm criticized for being a prude and sounding like a social worker or something, then I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-moore/oh-al-shut-up-stop-criticizing-me-first-i-m-criticized-for-being-a/) [Pamela Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-moore/) > [He who thinks he lives without sin puts aside not sin, but pardon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/he-who-thinks-he-lives-without-sin-puts-aside-not-sin-but-pardon/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [God give you pardon from gratitude and other mild forms of servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-creeley/god-give-you-pardon-from-gratitude-and-other-mild-forms-of-servitude/) [Robert Creeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-creeley/) > [Sincerity is a great but rare virtue, and we pardon to it much complaining, and the betrayal of many weaknesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/sincerity-is-a-great-but-rare-virtue-and-we-pardon-to-it-much/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The President can pardon us again... and again and again, but... picketing will continue, and sooner or later, he will have to do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-paul/the-president-can-pardon-us-again-and-again-and-again-but-picketing/) [Alice Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-paul/) > [The more wit you have, the more good nature you must show, to induce people to pardon your superiority, for that is no easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/the-more-wit-you-have-the-more-good-nature-you-must-show-to-induce/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/he-came-not-as-a-flash-of-light-or-as-an-unapproachable-conqueror-but/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [When the New Testament speaks about the fullness of grace which we find in Christ, it does not mean only forgiveness, pardon and justification.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-b-ferguson/when-the-new-testament-speaks-about-the-fullness-of-grace-which-we/) [Sinclair B. Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-b-ferguson/) > [When my heart became constricted and my paths became narrow I took my hope in Your pardon and forgiveness as an opening and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-shafi-i/when-my-heart-became-constricted-and-my-paths-became-narrow-i-took-my/) [Al-Shafi‘i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-shafi-i/) > [Most (Christians) have an ungrounded trust in Christ, hoping that He will pardon, justify and save them, while the world has their hearts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/most-christians-have-an-ungrounded-trust-in-christ-hoping-that-he/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [“God may pardon sin, but Nature cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-may-pardon-sin-but-nature-cannot/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pardon is granted to necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/pardon-is-granted-to-necessity/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [A glooming peace this morning with it brings; The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head: Go hence, to have more talk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-glooming-peace-this-morning-with-it-brings-the-sun-for-sorrow-will/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [My vigour relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/my-vigour-relents-i-pardon-something-to-the-spirit-of-liberty/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [What better can we do than prostrate fall before Him reverent, and there confess humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears watering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/what-better-can-we-do-than-prostrate-fall-before-him-reverent-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More by Saint Augustine > [Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/lust-indulged-became-habit-and-habit-unresisted-became-necessity/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [The playthings of our elders are called business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/the-playthings-of-our-elders-are-called-business/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Do what you can and pray for what you cannot yet do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/do-what-you-can-and-pray-for-what-you-cannot-yet-do/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [For I did not know that the soul needs to be enlightened by light from outside itself, so that it can participate in truth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/for-i-did-not-know-that-the-soul-needs-to-be-enlightened-by-light/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [My mother spoke of Christ to my father, by her feminine and childlike virtues, and, after having borne his violence without a murmur or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/my-mother-spoke-of-christ-to-my-father-by-her-feminine-and-childlike/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Wicked sons do not have the Holy Ghost in the same way as do beloved sons, and yet they do have Baptism. 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You give it to the poor, and God receives it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/god-has-no-need-of-your-money-but-the-poor-have-you-give-it-to-the/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Nothing conquers except truth and the victory of truth is love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/nothing-conquers-except-truth-and-the-victory-of-truth-is-love/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [“O God, who is ever at work and ever at rest. May I be ever at work and ever at rest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/o-god-who-is-ever-at-work-and-ever-at-rest-may-i-be-ever-at-work-and/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Our Lord reserved to Himself certain things which He would do in due time in a manner outside the course and order of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/our-lord-reserved-to-himself-certain-things-which-he-would-do-in-due/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/give-me-chastity-and-continence-but-not-yet/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen. He either permits it to happen, or He brings it about Himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/nothing-therefore-happens-unless-the-omnipotent-wills-it-to-happen-he/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [The reward of patience Is patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/the-reward-of-patience-is-patience/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) [Explore all 672 Saint Augustine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) ## More Confession quotes > [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/) [Bilal Zahoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bilal-zahoor/) > [A love to Christ which is so cowardly and selfish that it is unwilling to proclaim by a public confession its faith in Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/a-love-to-christ-which-is-so-cowardly-and-selfish-that-it-is/) [Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/) > [Boys say its great..boys say its fine... 9 months later boys say its not mine..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-ngr/boys-say-its-great-boys-say-its-fine-9-months-later-boys-say-its-not/) [Simi Ngr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-ngr/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. 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I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-d-mclaren/i-have-a-confession-to-make-121-almost-every-time-i-tune-in-to/) [Brian D. McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-d-mclaren/) > [A catechism is simply a tool for teaching the fundamentals of the faith. Unlike a creed or confession, a catechism uses questions and answers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/a-catechism-is-simply-a-tool-for-teaching-the-fundamentals-of-the/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [“I’m beginning to get the feeling that confession is what we need in order to forgive ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-kuhn/i-m-beginning-to-get-the-feeling-that-confession-is-what-we-need-in/) [Shane Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-kuhn/) > [“We need repentance. You see, repentance is not only going to a priest and confessing. 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The only difference is, I didn't lie to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-said-i-love-you-i-said-it-too-the-only-difference-is-i-didn-t-lie/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 909 Confession quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Saint Augustine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you-shut-up-sin-within-your-soul/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confession" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you-shut-up-sin-within-your-soul/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/saint-augustine-328_confession_if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you_1841095.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon.” — Saint Augustine", "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": "Saint Augustine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you excuse yourself in confession,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you-shut-up-sin-within-your-soul/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/if-you-excuse-yourself-in-confession-you-shut-up-sin-within-your-soul/#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 } } ] } ```