By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places - whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest - where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hawthorne says sympathy for sin lets humans see crime everywhere and view the earth as stained by guilt.
- In plain terms
- We all share in sin; crime marks the whole earth.
- What can you take from it?
- Human compassion for sin reveals shared guilt across society.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Are we all complicit in societal sin?
- How should we respond to shared guilt?
Another view
It can imply too much guilt for individual actions.
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