# "Sin enters as a servant, leaves as a master"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sin-enters-as-a-servant-leaves-as-a-master/732070>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 21, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sin-enters-as-a-servant-leaves-as-a-master/732070 "2015-09-21T04:05:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
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**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sin-enters-as-a-servant-leaves-as-a-master/732070/1 "2015-09-21T04:05:00Z")

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“Sin enters as a servant, but always leaves as the master”

Does anyone know the source of this quote? The wording may not be exact but is close. I couldn’t find anything in google.

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**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sin-enters-as-a-servant-leaves-as-a-master/732070/2 "2015-09-21T17:54:52Z")

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I found these two quotes that are… related:

“Sin does not remain a contented servant; it seeks to seize and master its participants.” --James MacDonald

“Sin is a harsh master, not a submissive servant” – Heath Lambert

Based on the titles of their books, both appear to be popular Christian writers of some sort.

Also looks like Romans, chapter 6, contains a number of quotes about sin and service, which you might be able to massage into the above.

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**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sin-enters-as-a-servant-leaves-as-a-master/732070/3 "2015-09-22T16:45:08Z")

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I have heard, “Sin enters as a guest, and leaves as a friend.”

Here is a [Google book result](https://books.google.com/books?id=ihWsCAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA120&ots=DH5jCZ45wa&dq=%22enters%20as%20a%20guest%22&pg=PA120#v=onepage&q=%22enters%20as%20a%20guest%22&f=false) from my query on that saying, from _The Revealed and Hidden Writings of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav_, by Zvi Mark:

> [@](#):
>
> A midrash interprets the verse, “At the entrance sin crouches” [Gen 4:7] as describing the way of the evil inclination. “Rabbi Yitzhak said: At first, [the evil inclination] is a guest, and then it becomes the householder.”

[Nachman of Breslov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachman_of_Breslov) is a very important figure in Hassidic Judaism, so it’s not unlikely that his statement would become an aphorism.