Profaneness

“ What can we then think of those who make use of so tremendous a name in the ordinary expressions of their anger, mirth, and most impertinent passions? of those who admit it into the most familiar questions, and assertions, ludicrous phrases, and works of humour? not to mention those who violate it by solemn perjuries! It would be an affront to reason to endeavour to set forth the horror and profaneness of such a practice." [627]
If a Frenchman was forbidden to swear, he would probably laugh at the first word of the admonition ”

“ We have excellent laws against all profaneness, but, alas, for our country! they are not enforced; and he who attempts to put the laws in force against profane swearers, Sabbath breakers, etc., is considered a litigious man, and a disturber of the peace of society. ”

“ We have been so far from endeavouring to extirpate profaneness, another evil engaged against in the covenant, and condemned in the Word of God. Deut. xxix. 19; Job xxi. 14; Jer. xxiii. 15; Ezek. xxii. 26; Hos. iv. 1-3; Heb. vii. 15.
"That profanity hath been much winked at, and profane persons much countenanced, and many times employed, till iniquity and ungodliness have gone over the land as a flood; and profanity, beginning at the court, hath spread itself through every rank and quality in the land: so that immoralities and sins against every precept of both tables are greatly abounding." ”

“ Sacrilege, as uniting theft with profaneness, is the sin of which he has the deepest horror. One day, while he is lecturing after his usual fashion, an ill-looking fellow comes into the shop with a sack under his arm. ”

“ And though you and myself were born in an age of frailties, when the primitive piety and care of the Church's lands and immunities are much decayed; yet, Madam, let me beg that you would first consider that there are such sins as Profaneness and Sacrilege: and that, if there were not, they could not have names in Holy Writ, and particularly in the New Testament. And I beseech you to consider, that though our Saviour said, 'He judged no man;' and, to testify it, would not judge nor divide the inheritance betwixt the two brethren, nor would judge the woman taken in adultery ”

“ Swearing looks like the beginning of a Quarrel, to which Women have an aversion: As being neither armed by Nature, nor disciplin'd by Custome for such rough Disputes. A Woman will start at a Soldiers Oath, almost as much as at the Report of his Pistol: And therefore a well Bred Man will no more Swear, than Fight in the Company of Ladies.
A Second Branch of the Profaness of the Stage is their Abuse of Religion, and Holy Scripture. And here sometimes they don't stop short of Blasphemy. ”

“ What can a wife and her children think of an intemperate husband and father? We can be sober in language, and shun cursing and swearing—the most useless, unmeaning, and brutal of vulgarities. Nothing can be so silly and unmeaning—not to say shocking, repulsive, and sinful—as the oaths so common in the mouths of vulgar swearers. They are profanation without purpose—impiety without provocation—blasphemy without excuse. ”

“ We see, then, that Profanity covers a much wider field than the mere disrespectful use of God's name, with an evil purpose in the mind.
The use of profane words is the mark of a coarse and vulgar mind. Many a man has been weaned of the habit which he learnt as a boy solely on account of its coarseness and vulgarity. That is not a very high ground on which to give up a vice; yet it is sufficient to show us that Profanity tends to degrade him who practises it. The man who prides himself on being a gentleman, and yet uses bad language, is by no means altogether a gentleman. ”

“ A fine Gentleman that has neither Honesty, nor Honour, Conscience, nor Manners, Good Nature, nor civil Hypocricy. Fine, only in the Insignificancy of Life, the Abuse of Religion and the Scandals of Conversation. These Worshipful Things are the Poets Favourites: They appear at the Head of the Fashion; and shine in Character, and Equipage. If there is any Sense stirring, They must have it, tho' the rest of the Stage suffer never so much by the Partiality. ”

“ Another form of vulgarity is profanity. The habit of swearing is not a mark of manliness. It is the sign of a dull, coarse, unrefined nature, a lack of verbal initiative. Sometimes, perhaps, profanity seems picturesque and effective. ”

“ This Statute well executed would mend the Poets, or sweep the Box: And the Stage must either reform, or not thrive upon Profaness.
3dly Swearing in the Playhouse is an ungentlemanly, as well as an unchristian Practice. The Ladies make a considerable part of the Audience. Now Swearing before Women is reckon'd a Breach of good Behaviour, and therefore a civil Atheist will forbear it. The custom seems to go upon this Presumption; that the Impressions of Religion are strongest in Women, and more generally spread. ”

“ One word is too often profaned
For me to profane it.
One feeling is too falsely disdain'd
For thee to disdain it.
One hope is too like dispair
For prudence to smother:
And pity from thee more dear
Than that from another. ”

“ The common swearer is confined to no rank or age in society. I have heard the youth who was barely in his teens indulge in this sin, as though it had been a part of his parental or day-school education. I have heard the young gentleman, so-called, recently returned from the walks of a University, pollute his lips and character with this shameful vice. I have heard the man who laid claim to wealth, to intelligence, to respectability, and to honour, pour forth his swearing words. ”

“ Nevertheless, as between sacred study and profane literature, an even violent divergence of choice existed. Everywhere there were men who loved the profanities in themselves, and some who felt that for their souls' sake they must abjure them. ”

“ Use no profane language, utter no word that will cause the most virtuous to blush. Profanity is a mark of low breeding; and the tendency of using indecent and profane language is degrading to your minds. ”

“ One day, when a very good friend was visiting me, I thought I would begin on my course of depravity. The first lesson would be in swearing. When an opportunity presented itself, I uttered a word that I thought was strong enough for an amateur to begin on. It stuck in my throat and nearly choked me. My friend laughed and looked both amused and ashamed. Reader, if you have lived to maturity and never indulged in profanity, you can’t imagine how awkward it will be for you to turn out your first piece of swearing. You can’t do it justice. ”

“ What must the heart of that man be made of, who can pass through the midst of such displays of divine beauty, and pollute the very atmosphere as he passes with profanity! This is what hundreds are daily doing. Almost all the hands on board of the steamboats, down even to the little boys, utter an oath almost every other word. Profane swearing is one of the crying sins of this western world. Oaths the most horrid are awfully common among [Pg 78] all sorts of people. ”

“ Thy customary swearing is an uncharitable accusation of the hearers, as if they were so incredulous, that they would not believe a man without an oath, and so profane, that they delight in the profanation of the name of God ”

“ I am not much given to profanity, but when I am sorely aggravated and vexed in spirit, I declare to you that it is such a relief to me, such a solace to my troubled soul, and gives me such heavenly peace, to now and then allow a word or phrase to escape my lips which can serve the no other earthly purpose, seemingly, than to render emphatic my otherwise mildly expressed ideas. ”

“ He devoted himself to the study of profanity in all its various branches, until now he can swear more men, and do a bigger "so-help-me-God" business than any other go-as-you-please affidavit man in Colorado. ”

“ I ask leave here for a thought or two about that inundation custom has made upon our language and discourse by familiar swearing; and I place it here, because custom has so far prevailed in this foolish vice that a man’s discourse is hardly agreeable without it; and some have taken upon them to say it is pity it should not be lawful, it is such a grace in a man’s speech, and adds so much vigour to his language. ”

“ And yet, from the swearing and blasphemy with which our land is cursed, one would think there were some great advantage to be reaped from the practice. There is to-day in all our land no more prevalent custom, and no more God-defying abomination, than profane swearing. You can hardly walk our streets five minutes without having your ears stung and your sensibilities shocked. ”

“ Next to the profane Use of such Names as signify Beings that are Divine, is a like profane Use of Words which signify Things of a Divine and Holy Nature, such as are proper only to Religion, and the Concern of our Souls and another World ”

“ What need ye any more proof of yourselves? Sinners, look to your hands, and your outward man, and learn from them to know your hearts. These things proceed out of the heart and defile the whole man. The profanity of the most part of men's practices, cursing and swearing &c., is a bitter stream that cannot proceed from a good fountain. It is a wonder how the world satisfy themselves with a dream of faith. ”

“ Never allow yourself to contract the habit of swearing. Many men—and, because of their pernicious example, many boys too—habitually garnish their conversation with oaths, profanity, and obscenity of the vilest description. ”

“ These Things have their Rise from Idols, and are the Train of a false Religion. The Pleasure is ill Descended, and likewise Vitious and ensnaring. For who can do less than abominate, the Clamorous Disorders of the Race-Ground, and the profession of Murther at the Prize. And for the Stage, there you have more Lewdness, tho' not a jot less of Distraction. Sometimes your Mimicks, are so Scandalous and Expressing, that 'tis almost hard to distinguish between the Fact and the Representation. Sometimes a Luscious Actor shall whine you into Love, and give the Disease that he Counterfeits.'
St. ”

“ This is a change wrought in men's feelings, which all must hail with great pleasure. Putting out of sight for a moment the sin of such a practice, and the bad influence it must have had upon all emotions of reverence for the name and attributes of the Divine Being, and the natural effect of profane swearing, to "harden a' within," we might marvel at the utter folly and incongruity of making swearing accompany every expression of anger or surprise, or of using oaths as mere expletives in common discourse. ”

“ Profanity is like steam in a locomotive—takes more to run you up-hill than on the level, and inasmuch as there's only a few men on the level, a violent vocabulary is a necessity and appeals to me like a certificate of good character and general capability. ”

“ While by no means to be accounted friendly towards the vile excrescences of swearing, the ordinary man of the world is not to be repelled by every street oath, or put to lasting confusion by every passing word of unseemliness. To put it upon no higher ground than that of mere custom, it were too arrogant to assume abhorrence of a practice that is as trite and customary as the incidents of one’s daily rounds. ”

“ It is today one of the saddest things in life to note how common profanity is in the ordinary speech of men and of boys, mannish boys who imitate the men about them. It is positively disheartening to hear it on the streets, in the streetcars, in the trains. ”

“ Although my earliest notoriety was achieved in very much the same way,—that is, by a series of comic sketches, as many of my admirers no doubt remember,—I soon perceived the unstable character of my reputation. I was at the mercy of the next man who should succeed in inventing a new slang, or a funnier way of spelling. These things, in literature, are like "fancy drinks" among the profane. They tickle the palates of the multitude for a while, but they don't wear like the plain old beverages. ”

“ No language can be stronger than that of Sir John—“I cannot sufficiently lament,” he says “that shameful, inexcusable and almost universal practice of profane swearing in our streets; a crime so easy to be punished, and so seldom done, that mankind almost forget it to be an offence, and to our dishonour be it spoken, it is almost peculiar to the English nation.” ”

“ Don't let your indignation run into profanity," said Judge Lyman, trying to assume a serious air; but the muscles of his face but feebly obeyed his will's feeble effort.
"Profanity! Poh! I don't call that profanity. It's only speaking out in meeting, as they say,—it's only calling black, black—and white, white. You believe in a hell, don't you, judge?" ”

“ Be assured once for all that nothing external to yourself can ever touch the feeling which I now have for you. “One word is too often profaned;” I will say simply that I hold you in higher regard that any other human being. ”

“ A young man who allows himself to use one profane or vulgar word, has not only shown that there is a foul spot on his mind, but by the utterance of that word he extends that spot and inflames it, till, by indulgence, it will soon pollute and ruin the whole soul. ”

“ In carrying on a conversation after newcomers enter the room, briefly recapitulate what has gone before, that the thread of the story may be complete for them. Look at those with whom you are talking, but never stare.
Profanity is the last and most inexcusable sin committed against good manners and propriety. The man who will deliberately use profane language in the drawing-room, or before women and children, or aged men, should be considered without the pale of good society. ”

“ In the widest sense by profanation all impiety is meant, and by profaners, therefore, all the impious who at heart deny God, the holiness of the Word, and consequently the spiritual things of the church which are essentially holy, and who also speak of them impiously. ”

“ In the same way the common use of profanity among ignorant people probably arises mainly from a feeling that the ordinary words with which they are familiar are colorless and do not express their thoughts with sufficient emphasis. ”