#innocence

The knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable. ↗

— Irving Howe

#innocence #knowledge #makes #unattainable #us

Being part of the natural world reminds me that innocence isn't ever lost completely; we just need to maintain our goodness to regain it. ↗

— Jewel

#completely #ever #goodness #innocence #just

There have always been poets who performed. Blake sang his Songs of Innocence and Experience to parties of friends. ↗

— Adrian Mitchell

#been #blake #experience #friends #his

I saw something I could never forget. I saw lifetimes of acknowledgement, fear, wisdom, questioning, and understanding in a child's eye. It was the worst thing I would ever witness. ↗

— Shannon A. Thompson

#fear #innocence #life-lessons #life-loss #questioning

And that's what innocence is. It's simple and trusting like a child, not judgmental and committed to one narrow point of view. If you are locked into a pattern of thinking and responding, your creativity gets blocked. You miss the freshness and magic of the moment. Learn to be innocent again, and that freshness never fades. ↗

— Michael Jackson

#commitment

Experience had taught me that innocence seldom utters outraged shrikes. Guilt does. Innocence is a mighty shield, and the man or woman covered by it, is much more likely to answer calmly: 'My life is blameless. Look into it, if you like, for you will find nothing.' That is the tone of innocence. ↗

— Whittaker Chambers

#innocence #experience

the cold winds of insecurity... hadn't shredded the dreamy chrysalis of his childhood. He was still immersed in the dim, wet wonder of the folded wings that might open if someone loved him; he still hoped, probably, in a butterfly's unthinking way, for spring and warmth. How the wings ache, folded so, waiting; that is, they ache until they atrophy. ↗

— Harold Brodkey

#innocence #love

Innocence eroded into nightmare. All because of very bad touch. Love, corrupted. ↗

— Ellen Hopkins

#ellen-hopkins #fallout #innocence #love #love

My brother is undoubtedly arrogant," Tyrion Lannister replied. "My father is the soul of avarice, and my sweet sister Cersei lusts for power with every waking breath. I, however, am innocent as a little lamb. Shall I bleat for you? ↗

— George R.R. Martin

#avarice #innocence #power #lust

Well, did he do it?" She always asked the irrelevant question. It didn't matter in terms of the strategy of the case whether the defendant "did it" or not. What mattered was the evidence against him -- the proof -- and if and how it could be neutralized. My job was to bury the proof, to color the proof a shade of gray. Gray was the color of reasonable doubt. ↗

— Michael Connelly

#criminal-law #defense #evidence #guilt #innocence