Skip to content

A crime, which, though perhaps not considered by law as the highest, is in truth and in fact, the blackest sin, which can contaminate the hands, or pollute the soul of man.

— Henry Fielding

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: William Ernest Henley, ed., The Complete Works of Henry Fielding, Esq: Miscellaneous Writings (W. Heinemann, 1903), p. 162
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Henry Fielding

Depend on me; never fear your enemies. I'll warrant we make more noise than they.

Eurydice Hissed: or A Word to the Wise (1736)

It hath been often said, that it is not death, but dying which is terrible.

Amelia (1751)

Hairbreadth missings of happiness look like the insults of Fortune.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)

I describe not men, but manners; not an individual, but a species.

Joseph Andrews (1742)

To whom nothing is given, of him can nothing be required.

Joseph Andrews (1742)

When children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)

Life may as properly be called an art as any other.

Amelia (1751)

Love and scandal are the best sweeteneers of tea.

Love in Several Masques (1728)

All Henry Fielding quotes →

More quotes by Henry Fielding

It is a trite but true observation, that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.

Joseph Andrews (1742)

Can any man have a higher notion of the rule of right and the eternal fitness of things?

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)

Guilt has very quick ears to an accusation.

Amelia (1751)

When widows exclaim loudly against second marriages, I would always lay a wager that the man, if not the wedding day, is absolutely fixed on.

Amelia (1751)

In reality, the world have payed too great a compliment to critics, and have imagined them men of much greater profundity than they really are.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)

All Henry Fielding quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Henry Fielding (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.