contriteness

Writing's hard when there's so much to say and you're not sure how to say it, or what the proper mix of generosity, contriteness, candor, and diplomacy should be.

David Margolick: Within a Racial Cold War, Some Signs of a Thaw David Margolick 2011

And, ere the excitement began to ebb, nine-tenths of his congregation and all his converts were down on knees and praying and shouting aloud an immensity of contriteness and sin.

WHEN ALICE TOLD HER SOUL 2010

His tone should at least have feigned contriteness, and an awareness of the problem does not excuse him of that.

msagara: Amazon listing, part 2 msagara 2009

"If you show shame, or show an honest contriteness, that's likely to appear in a campaign commercial against you," said KC Johnson, a professor of history at Brooklyn College in New York.

As Rangel demonstrates, shame no longer required after political wrongdoing David A. Fahrenthold 2010

He has also "shown contriteness" (which we'd think was a good quality, though we suppose it also suggests he has something to be contrite about) and "shown irritation at criticism."

When Pigs Flu 2009

I am intrigued by most of these statements because they are so rich with cliché and tautology, and yet they have this quality of contriteness and apology that seems to reflect a wonderfully refreshing level of care, concern and tenderness for the work of the poets they are translating, as well as a kind of fatalistic hopelessness about the capacity for us to reach across the divide of language and culture.

2007 April : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation - Part 2 2007

I am intrigued by most of these statements because they are so rich with cliché and tautology, and yet they have this quality of contriteness and apology that seems to reflect a wonderfully refreshing level of care, concern and tenderness for the work of the poets they are translating, as well as a kind of fatalistic hopelessness about the capacity for us to reach across the divide of language and culture.

More Translation Matters : Kwame Dawes : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation 2007

Of course, this heart-felt confession, said with all the contriteness that a use-immunity-protected witness can muster, doesn't really mean a whole lot.

"I Didn't Mean To" 2007

The pictures are fascinating in the narrow range of emotion they convey, from self-pity to sullenness, but to my mind all stop before genuine contriteness.

The Polk County 8 The Year in Pictures 2008

The pictures are fascinating in the narrow range of emotion they convey, from self-pity to sullenness, but to my mind all stop before genuine contriteness.

Archive 2008-04-01 The Year in Pictures 2008