Monday, April 08, 2013

Remorse has intelligence and bite to initiate change

Carol Miers blogs about differences between remorse and regret as described by Thomas Moore in his book, Dark Nights of the Soul.

She quotes Moore's view that regret is a stale emotion, full of ego, without deep roots ... "and though feelings of regret can be intense, they lack an intelligence and bite that motivate a significant shift in attitude." Remorse, however, can lead to change: "The word 'regret' means to weep, but 'remorse' means to bite, as in the word 'morsel'."

Readers interested in these difference between remorse and regret may consider Moore's 1989 article, "Re-Morse: An Initiatory Disturbance of the Soul", published in The Psychotherapy Patient, volume 5, issue 1-2, 1989, pages 83-94. Read the abstract, then download the complete text.