George Eliot | A man may do wrong, and his will may rise clear out of it, though he can’t get his life clear. That’s a bad punishment

I dare say you repent — you would like to go back, and can’t: that must be a bitter thing. (...)
I don’t judge you and say, he is wicked, and I am righteous. God forbid. I don’t know everything. A man may do wrong, and his will may rise clear out of it, though he can’t get his life clear. That’s a bad punishment. If it is so with you, — well, I’m very sorry for you. But I have that feeling inside me, that I can’t go on working with you.

BOOK VII. TWO TEMPTATIONS. CHAPTER LXIX.