Mea Culpa
Card Quotes

For the Outside Greeting of each card:

1. Pick a quote. Selections can be from our entire data bank, not just MC
2. Remember the quote number and the first 3 words (you'll enter them on the order page) or
3. Use a favorite quote of your own (you'll write it on the order page)

For the Inside Message of each card:

1. Use the inside message paired with that quote (you'll select it on the order page) or
2. Change that inside message to better suit your situation (you'll write it on the order page) or
3. Pick an inside message (paired with a different quote) that works better (you'll write it on the order page) or
4. Use your own inside message (you'll write it on the order page)

Once you've decided on a gift and the quote/message you want, return to the product page (by clicking on Back or the gift link) and click on a Buy It button. You'll enter your quote/message information on the order page.

Quote
"Lovers' quarrels are the renewal of love."

Suggestion
Connect the outside quote to an inner message that says, Arguments test love. Reconciliations strengthen it. Maybe if we both bend, we'll mend.

Quote
"The sound of her silk skirt has stopped.
On the marble pavement dust grows.
Her empty room is cold and still.
Fallen leaves are piled against the doors.
Longing for that lovely lady
How can I bring my aching heart to rest?"

Suggestion
The outer quote can be expanded with an inside message that says, Without you, my life is a meaningless pantomime.

Quote
"[We are] harmony in discord."

Suggestion
Connect the outside quote to an inner message that says, Can we agree that we disagree and work toward finding some harmony ?

Quote
"For aught that I could read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth."

Suggestion
Connect the outer quote to an inside message that says, Problems test the pledge. I was wrong, I'm sorry, and I am still committed to making this work.

Quote
"I prithee send me back my heart,
Since I cannot have thine;
For if from yours you will not part,
Why then shouldst thou have mine?"

Suggestion
This quote works with the Mea Culpa gift if your love-interest is giving you the "cold shoulder" because you've inflicted some love angst. Regain good favour by connecting this quote with an inside message that says, You and I are so intertwined, together we are one combined. Please forgive and change your mind.

Quote
"And when I feigned an angry look,
Alas, I loved you best."

Suggestion
To expand on this theme, connect the outer quote to an inside message that says, Because only you could make me so distressed.

Quote
"Women sometimes forgive a man
Who forces the opportunity,
But never a man who misses one."

Suggestion
Connect the outer quote to an inside message that says, Afraid that I would miss the chance to win your heart, I ardently pursued it into full retreat. If I back-off and let you take the lead, do you think there's a chance that we could proceed?

Quote
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!"

Suggestion
Expand this imagery with an inside quote that says, Some spiders devour their mates. I hope you're just angry and not hungry.

Quote
"Not with a Club, the Heart is broken
Nor with a Stone___
A Whip so small you could not see it
I've known
To lash the Magic Creature
Till it fell."

Suggestion
You can connect this quote to the Mea Culpa theme if the inside message says: With just a slash of verbal whiplash, I made your heart come apart. I'm sorry.

Quote
"All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms."

Suggestion
Connect this outside quote to an inside message that says, I was inattentive. Now I'm repentive . . . for pretending I didn't care.

Quote
"I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more."

Suggestion
Use this quote if you're seeking to apologize and want a reconciliation. Connect this outer quote to an inside message that says, I long to sing that song again and recapture the rapture that infused my soul. I'm sorry.

Quote
"Our joys as winged dreams do fly;
Why then should sorrow last?
Since grief but aggravates thy loss,
Grieve not for what is past."

Suggestion
Connect the outer quote to an inside message that says, Estrangement from you is a cold exile. Can't we reconcile?

Quote
"Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear
I never more will break oath with thee."

Suggestion
Follow this outside quote with: Truly, sadly, meekly, I pledge my reform so we can avoid these firestorms.

Quote
"The course of true love never did run smooth."

Suggestion
Try this as an inside message: True love is always rocky, but I never intended to cause a seismic reaction. What can I do to make the aftershocks stop?

Quote
"They say best men are molded out of faults,
And for the most, become much more the better
For being a little bad."

Suggestion
Connect this outer quote to an inner message that says, Given all my faults, isn't it comforting to know that I'm constantly improving?

Quote
"Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,
Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn."

Suggestion
Connect this outer quote to an inside message that says, I'm tired of our shouting bouts. Let's stop and take a time out.

Quote
"But words once spoken can never be recalled."

Suggestion
To connect this outer quote to an inner message, say, . . . yet, the hurt inflicted is, if your heart forgives.

Quote
"But men are men; the best sometimes forget."

Suggestion
This card works well for the man who overlooks an important event if it is softened with an apologetic inside message. Assuage the "unfortunate but true" reality of this quote by saying, Even if there is a gene for forgetfulness, it doesn't relieve me of my need to be considerate. I'm sorry I forgot (your birthday/our anniversary). Can you forgive me?

Quote
"Your fair discourse hath been as sugar;
Making the hard way sweet and delectable."

Suggestion
This quote can mend fences during a difficult time if your partner has been extremely understanding while you've been a complete jerk. Connect the outside quote with an inner message that says, Thank you for being patient while I was being beastly.

Quote
"What we have we prize not to the worth
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost,
Why, then we rack the value, then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us
Whiles it was ours."

Suggestion
This quote can be made to refer to the loss of a lover, if the inside quote says, Your absence in my life has left a painful emptiness. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Can we start again?

Quote
"Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,
Frosty, but kindly."

Suggestion
To expand this theme of unpolished social skills, try this surly inside message: I'm cold and rusty from disuse, but with you, I feel spry, and loose. Let's try again, first as friends.

Quote
"No more be grieved . . .
Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud.
Clouds and eclipses stain both sun and moon.
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud."

Suggestion
This is a great quote to use when each of you feel the other is wrong and neither will concede the right to be mad. Giving the Mea Culpa Gift will get peace talks moving and will make you appear less interested in holding a grudge and more concerned about preserving the relationship. To do this graciously without appearing too invertebrate, have the inner message say, To enjoy this Mea Culpa, we should at least be friends. So, let's give up the grudge and make amends.

Quote
"We pardon to the extent that we love."

Suggestion
This quote works for the victim of a love-crime who decides to forgive a partner's bad behavior. Connect this quote to an inside message by saying, . . . and we love those who pardon. So, if I forgive you, you better love me.

Quote
"How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen,
What old December's bareness everywhere!"

Suggestion
Connect this quote to the Mea Culpa theme by saying, The fight was painful, but our break-up has been worse. Can we get together and put an end to this curse?

Quote
"I daydream, melancholy at the windowsill-
memories I will never tell-
our passion in the late hours,
our tearful goodbyes at dawn.
Mountains and rivers divide us,
I've given up hoping for rain.
Divided, I dream of you today-
I even embrace the pain."

Suggestion
This quote, if used figuratively, can express your anguish over unresolved issues that have divided you from your significant other. The quote intimates a desire for reconciliation. Connect this quote to an inside message by saying, I miss you so much that even painful memories bring me comfort.