These rebuke quotes will inspire you. Rebuke expresses sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions.
A collection of motivating, happy, and encouraging rebuke quotes, rebuke sayings, and rebuke proverbs.
Best Rebuke Quotes
- “It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.” ~ Aeschylus
- “We are one in Christ; let us be friends with one another, but let us never be friends with one another’s error. If I be wrong, rebuke me sternly; I can bear it, and bear it cheerfully; and if ye be wrong, expect the like measure from me, and neither peace nor parley with your mistakes.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
- “People who have a seeking heart still make mistakes. But their reaction to rebuke and correction shows the condition of that heart. It determines what God is able to do with them in the future.” ~ Jim Cymbala
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“A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive.” ~ Sydney J. Harris
- “Next to a sincere compliment, I think I like a well-deserved and honest rebuke.” ~ William Feather
- “To fight against pride, it is wise to surround ourselves with those who know us and love us enough to speak into our lives with words of correction and rebuke.” ~ Paul Washer
- “For kind of sophisticated art I’m interested in, the larger structural rebuke has to be so subtle that it has to be distributed at an almost sub-atomic level. Otherwise, you fall into the kind of preachy, moralistic fable that I don’t think makes for good literature.” ~ Junot Diaz
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“If it is hard to accept a rebuke, even a private one, it is harder still to administer one in loving humility.” ~ D. A. Carson
- “Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive.” ~ Seamus Heaney
- “Only let the North exert as much moral influence over the South, as the South has exerted demoralizing influence over the North, and slavery would die amid the flame of Christian remonstrance, and faithful rebuke, and holy indignation” ~ Angelina Grimke
- “The classical theorists resemble Euclidean geometers in a non-Euclidean world who, discovering that in experience straight lines apparently parallel often meet, rebuke the lines for not keeping straight as the only remedy for the unfortunate collisions which are occurring. Yet, in truth, there is no remedy except to throw over the axiom of parallels and to work out a non-Euclidean geometry.” ~ John Maynard Keynes
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“A good friend who points out mistakes is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” ~ Gautama Buddha
- “It is a severe rebuke upon us, that God makes us so many allowances, and we make so few to our neighbour.” ~ William Penn
- “But I shall let the little I have learnt go forth into the day in order that someone better than I may guess the truth, and in his work may prove and rebuke my error. At this I shall rejoice that I was yet a means whereby this truth has come to light.” ~ Albrecht Durer
- “Don’t punish people who repent; heal them. I don’t believe that private sin requires public rebuke or removal from office if repentance is taking place. However, when no evidence of true repentance exists, then discipline is in order.” ~ Ted Haggard
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“Because the Lord loves us He chastens and rebukes us. Modern sentimentality has reduced God to a tolerant indulgent grandfatherly being who winks at our transgressions.” ~ Vance Havner
- “Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond, loping in and out of cover on the plains and highlands. And at night, when the whole world belongs to them, they parley at the river with the dogs, their higher, sharper voices full of authority and rebuke. They are an old council of clowns, and they are listened to.” ~ N. Scott Momaday
- “If any country was a mine-shaft canary for the reintroduction of cholera, it was Haiti – and we knew it. And in retrospect, more should have been done to prepare for cholera… which can spread like wildfire in Haiti… This was a big rebuke to all of us working in public health and health care in Haiti.” ~ Paul Farmer
- “The vital Christian arouses opposition because he is a standing rebuke to the selfishness and sin of those around him.” ~ John Hagee
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“The only safe male rebuke to a scornful female is to stay away from her – especially if that is what she desires.” ~ Booth Tarkington
- “Little boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men; but to rebuke great and good men for their conduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of moral courage.” ~ William Lloyd Garrison
- “Reprove your friend in secret and praise him openly.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
- “If thou desire to see thy child virtuous, let him not see his father’s vices: thou canst not rebuke that in them, that they behold practiced in thee; till reason be ripe, examples direct more than precepts: such as thy behavior is before thy children’s faces, such commonly is theirs behind their parents’ backs.” ~ Francis Quarles
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“preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching.” ~ Paul the Apostle
- “Reprimand and rebuke should be accepted as healing remedies for vice and as conducive to good health. From this it is clear that those who pretend to be tolerant because they wish to flatter—those who thus fail to correct sinners—actually cause them to suffer supreme loss and plot the destruction of that life which is their true life.” ~ Saint Basil
- “No, I make no pretension to patriotism. So long as my voice can be heard on this or the other side of the Atlantic, I will hold up America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation. In doing this, I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins.” ~ Frederick Douglass
- “We tolerate without rebuke the vices with which we have grown familiar.” ~ Publilius Syrus
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“If your prayer is selfish, the answer will be something that will rebuke your selfishness. You may not recognize it as having come at all, but it is sure to be there.” ~ William Temple
- “The reservedness and distance that fathers keep, often deprive their sons of that refuge which would be of more advantage to them than an hundred rebukes or chidings.” ~ John Locke
- “If, on a rare occasion, it is necessary to speak with some severity in order to make a grievous crime felt, we should always, at the conclusion of the rebuke, add some kind words. We must heal wounds, as the Samaritan did, with wine and oil. But as oil floats above all other liquors, so meekness should predominate in all our actions.” ~ Alphonsus Liguori
- “Too much preaching nowadays pats the back and tickles the ear, but does not get under the skin. There is no conviction and therefore no conversion. I am thinking not only of the ministry of reproof and rebuke but also of the message of inspiration, of encouragement, of comfort. People go out of church at noon with the depths unstirred, the heart untouched, the conscience unpricked.” ~ Vance Havner
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“A true Christian, living an obedient life, is a constant rebuke to those who accept the moral standards of this world.” ~ Billy Graham
- “When things are not going right, there are satanic forces in operation. What is my solution? To rebuke the condition of sin, death, disease, or whatever it is. I can pray in the Holy Ghost, and that prayer is effectual to bring down every stronghold of the enemy.” ~ Smith Wigglesworth , Rebuke quotes death
- “A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals the secret of some hidden treasure.” ~ Dalai Lama
- “The preacher who jests and jokes with his people all week will soon find that he cannot stand in his pulpit on Sunday with power to reprove, rebuke and exhort. He may be the life of the party but it will be the death of the prophet.” ~ Vance Havner
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“Only a rebuke that ‘has something in it’ will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.” ~ Sigmund Freud
- “The greatness of God is the true rebuke to the littleness of men. The greatness of Christ is the true rebuke to the littleness of Christians.” ~ Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
- “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” ~ Gautama Buddha
- “Seek to mingle gentleness in all your rebukes; bear with the infirmities of others; make allowance for constitutional frailties; never say harsh things, if kind things will do as well.” ~ John Ross Macduff
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“Seek to mingle gentleness in all your rebukes; bear with the infirmities of others; make allowance for constitutional frailties; never say harsh things, if kind things will do as well.” ~ John Ross Macduff
- “If I could look back at the seeds of faith, they were planted back then. I remember in my early teenage years – when, naturally, we become more rebellious, prideful, self-directed and self-willed – I had this nun, Sister Mary Martinella, I’ll never forget her – only because of one thing that she said that stuck in my spirit. And it was a rebuke.” ~ Patricia Mauceri
- “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” ~ Aesop , Rebuke quotes enemy
- “You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity.” ~ Angela Merici
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“The constitution expects every man to do his duty; and when he fails the law urges him; or should he do too much; the same master rebukes him.” ~ Joseph Smith, Jr.
- “When gentle persuasion [of children] falls on deaf ears, we resort to ridicule and rebuke. Then we return to threats and punishment. This is the modus operandi of a mutual frustration society.” ~ Haim Ginott
- “My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan’s life. It is for the most part sweetish, with a tart edge of rebuke, but disappointingly free of dirt or particulate matter of any kind.” ~ Barbara Ehrenreich
- “It behooves those who take the young to task to leave them room for excuse, lest they drive them to be hardened by too much rebuke.” ~ Plato
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“If you’re going to offer a position of great power and importance to somebody, you’re not gonna do that publicly unless you know they’re gonna accept it, because to refuse it is a rebuke.” ~ Rush Limbaugh
- “The Donald Trump team hit back with a swift and stunning rebuke of the CIA. Quote, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”” ~ Donald Trump
- “…I believe it is now the duty of the slaves of the South to rebuke their masters for their robbery, oppression and crime…. Nostation or character can destroy individual responsibility, in the matter of reproving sin.” ~ Angelina Grimke
- “Jesus defeated satan in Gethsemane on the cross, not by directly confronting the devil, but by fulfilling the destiny to which He had been called. The greatest battle that was ever won was accomplished by the apparent death of the victor, without even a word of rebuke to His adversary!” ~ Francis Frangipane
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“Jesus defeated satan in Gethsemane on the cross, not by directly confronting the devil, but by fulfilling the destiny to which He had been called. The greatest battle that was ever won was accomplished by the apparent death of the victor, without even a word of rebuke to His adversary!” ~ Francis Frangipane
- “Brain, v. [as in “to brain”]: To rebuke bluntly, but not pointedly; to dispel a source of error in an opponent.” ~ Ambrose Bierce
- “Cats – a standing rebuke to behavioural scientists . . . least human of all creatures.” ~ Lewis Thomas
- “Come hither, all ye empty things,
Ye bubbles rais’d by breath of Kings;
Who float upon the tide of state,
Come hither, and behold your fate.
Let pride be taught by this rebuke,
How very mean a thing’s a Duke;
From all his ill-got honours flung,
Turn’d to that dirt from whence he sprung.” ~ Jonathan Swift -
“Censure pardons the ravens but rebukes the doves. [The innocent are punished and the wicked escape.]” ~ Juvenal
- “Anger and just rebuke, and judgment given,
That brought into this world a world of woe,
Sin and her shadow Death, and Misery,
Death’s harbinger.” ~ John Milton - “It is one thing to decry the rat race…that is the good and honorable work of moralists. It is quite another thing to quit the rat race, to drop out, to refuse to run any further–that is the work of the individualist. It is offensive because it is impolite it makes the rebuke personal the individualist calls not his or her behavior into question, but mine.” ~ Paul Gruchow
- “Praise is sunshine; it warms, it inspires, it promotes growth; blame and rebuke are rain and hail; they beat down and bedraggle, even though they may at times be necessary.” ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe
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“A suicide is both a rebuke to the living and a puzzle that defies them to solve it. Like a poem, suicide is finished and refuses to answer questions as to its final cause.” ~ Margaret Atwood
- “Father, we ask that you give us a passion for the truth and not merely a hatred of falsehood. Keep us concerned for the spiritual health of people but open to your own rebukes from your mighty Word.” ~ Max Anders
- “As I do not live in an age when rustling black skirts billow about me, and I do not carry an ebony stick to strike the floor in sharp rebuke, as this is denied me, I rap out a sentence in my note book and feel better. If a grandmother wants to put her foot down, the only safe place to do it these days is in a note book.” ~ Florida Scott-Maxwell
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“With regard to manner, be careful to speak in a soft, tender, kind and loving way. Even when you have occasion to rebuke, be careful to do it with manifest kindness. The effect will be incalculably better.” ~ Hosea Ballou
- “A story contained in the family lore of Brigham Young’s descendants illustrates the submissive nature of humility. It recounts that in a public meeting the Prophet Joseph, possibly as a test, sternly rebuked Brigham Young for something he had done or something he was supposed to have done but hadn’t – the detail is unclear. When Joseph finished the rebuke, everyone in the room waited for Brigham Young’s response. This powerful man, later known as the Lion of the Lord, in a voice everyone could tell was sincere, said simply and humbly, “Joseph, what do you want me to do?”” ~ Truman G. Madsen
- “We will stand by our friends and administer a stinging rebuke to men or parties who are either indifferent, negligent, or hostile, and, wherever opportunity affords, to secure the election of intelligent, honest, earnest trade unionists, with clear, unblemished, paid-up union cards in their possession.” ~ Samuel Gompers
