We leave a stain, we leave a trail, we leave our imprint. Impurity, cruelty, abuse, error, excrement, semen - thereโs no other way to be here. Nothing to do with disobedience. Nothing to do with grace or salvation or redemption. Itโs in everyone. Indwelling. Inherent. Defining. The stain that is there before its mark.
Philip RothPeople were standing up everywhere shouting, "This is me! This is me!" Every time you looked at them they stood up and told you who they were, and the truth of it was that they had no more idea who or what they were than he had. They believed their flashing signs, too. They ought to be standing up and shouting, "This isn't me! This isn't me!" They would if they had any decency. "This isn't me!" Then you might know how to proceed through the flashing bullshit of this world.
Philip Roth