Tina's bookshelf ⏾’s Reviews > The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner > Status Update

“There are the keys of your kirk, sir! I have carried them, but they have always been like to burn a hole in my pouch since ever they were turned for your admittance. Give them to wha you will, and muckle gude may he get of them. Old John may die a beggar in a hay barn, or at the back of a dike, but he sall always be master of his own thoughts, and give them vent or no, as he likes.”

"Man's thoughts are vanity, sir; they come unasked, and go away without a dismissal, and he canna help them. (…)”

“Ye canna hinder me to think whatever I like, sir, nor can I hinder myself”

'— A body canna help his thoughts, sir.
— No, but a man's thoughts are generally formed from observation.'

“While we are in the world, we must mix with the inhabitants thereof, said he; and the stains which adhere to us by reason of this ixture, which is unavoidable, shall all be washed away. It is our duty however, to shun the society of wicked men as much as possible, est we partake of their sins, and become sharers with them in punishment.”

“…thou who art a worm, and no man in his sight?(…) and how can a being like thee judge between good and evil, that are both subjected to the workings of his hand; or of the opposing principles in the soul of man, correcting, modifying, and refining one another?”

“But O what a wretched state this unregenerated state is in which every effort after righteousness only aggravates our offences! (…) In particular, I felt great indignation against all the wicked of this world, and often wished for the means of ridding it of such a noxious burden.”

“I prayed three times every day, and seven times on the Sabbath; but the more frequently and fervently that I prayed, I sinned still the more.”

“Therefore, in the might of heaven I will sit down and write: I will let the wicked of this world know what I have done in the faith of the promises, and justification by grace, that they may read and tremble, and bless their gods of silver and of gold, that the minister of heaven was removed from their sphere before their blood was mingled with their sacrifices.”

“My life has been a life of trouble and turmoil; of change and vicissirude; of anger and exultation; of sorrow and of vengeance. My sorrows have all been for a slighted gospel, and my vengeance has been wreaked on its adversaries.”