quotations about adultery
The adulterer must become a liar and a villain; he not unfrequently breaks all the commandments of God, before he can ruin the object of which he is in pursuit.
W. DODD
Attributed, Day's Collacon
As long as prehistoric females were secretive about their extramarital affairs, they could garner extra resources, life insurance, better genes, and more varied DNA for their biological futures. Hence those who sneaked into the bushes with secret lovers lived on--unconsciously passing on through the centuries whatever it is in the female spirit that motivates modern women to philander.
HELEN E. FISHER
Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray
If a woman's got any instincts, she feels when her husband's off the reservation.
CLARE BOOTHE LUCE
The Women
Considering the fact that adultery is summarily denounced and forbidden in the ancient Israelite sex codes, it is of great interest how much adultery there is going on in the Bible among the Israelites.
J. HAROLD ELLENS
Sex in the Bible
There is nothing like a good dose of another woman to make a man appreciate his wife.
CLARE BOOTHE LUCE
The Women
Adultery, as we know, wrecks marriages. It doesn't just wreck them once the innocent party finds out: it begins to wreck them from the moment the act of adultery is committed because adultery is an act of betrayal toward the two people in life you've vowed to be faithful to: your spouse and God.
CHARLES ERLANDSON
"Lust and Adultery", Patheos, September 16, 2016
Much can be inferred about a man from his mistress: in her one beholds his weaknesses and his dreams.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook F", Aphorisms
Adultery is the new perfectionism, especially for women. Economic power and more freedom of sexual expression mean we are bolder in taking what and who we want, unwilling to be a martyr to marriage -- even if life is so good we'd remarry our husband.... FOMO (fear of missing out) is not just for teens.... Women are still publicly bashful about their keen sexual appetites -- not surprisingly, though, as for 10,000 years, women have had to lie.
ANNA MAXTED
"Helen Fisher and Esther Perel: Infidelity is common, and a 'yearning for freedom'", The Australian, February 22, 2016
A faithless woman, if known to be such by the person concerned, is but faithless ; if she is believed faithful, she is treacherous.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Women", Les Caractères
Women have been genetically programmed to have affairs as a "backup" plan in case their relationship fails, said scientists.... David Buss, Cari Goetz and colleagues suggest humans aren't meant to be monogamous and have put forward an alternative theory of human relationships. According to the "mate-switching hypothesis", we have evolved to continually test our romantic relationships and seek out better options. How romantic.
NATALIE GIL
"Here's Why Women Have Affairs, According to Science", refinery29, August 23, 2016
I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.
JIMMY CARTER
interview, Playboy, 1976
The woman ... did not claim to be a victim of "false accusations," she did not defend herself by saying "I didn't commit adultery." No, she acknowledged her sin and answered Jesus by saying, "No one condemned me, Lord." And so Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more." Therefore ... Jesus forgives. But here is something more than forgiveness. Because as confessor, Jesus goes beyond the law. In fact, the law stated that she must be punished. What's more, Jesus was pure and could have cast the first stone. But Christ goes further than that. He does not say adultery is not a sin, but he does not condemn her with the law. This is the mystery of the mercy of Jesus.
POPE FRANCIS
The Name of God Is Mercy
In my line of work, committing adultery is particularly ill-advised. Beyond character ruination and career suicide, there's a lot more at stake when you're married with children and a mortgage.
KATHERINE WILLIS PERSHEY
"The temptation to cheat: Don't even go there", Chicago Tribune, August 19, 2016
The only thing worse than the guilt was the fear of getting caught.
ELIN HILDERBRAND
A Summer Affair
Adultery is the injury of nature.
PLATO
attributed, Day's Collacon
Adultery is a sin that is heavier than most not because any other sin is lighter, but because of the repercussions it has. When a married person falls into infidelity, it not only affects them but the whole family and even beyond.
PATRICK MABILOG
"Why infidelity never starts with sex and what you can do to guard against it", Christian Today, September 4, 2016
If an ancestral woman was "married" to a poor hunter with bad eyesight and a fearful or unsupportive temperament, she stood to upgrade her genetic line by having children with another man--Mr. Good Gene.
HELEN E. FISHER
Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray
Adultery probably served ancestral females as an insurance policy. If a "husband" died or deserted home, she had another male she might be able to enlist to help with parental chores.
HELEN E. FISHER
Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray
How many ills spring from adultery? First the supreme law that is violated, Nobility oft stain'd with bastardy, Inheritance of land falsely possessed, The husband scorn'd, wife sham'd, and babes unbless'd.
JOHN WEBSTER
The Devil's Law Case
The answer to 'Why shouldn't I commit adultery?' is that it pays not to, and utility is the final measure of the rationality of moral behavior.
SHEELA PAWAR
Trusting Others, Trusting God: Concepts of Belief, Faith and Rationality