Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4: Knowledge and the Renouncing of Action

Bhagavad Gita 4.36

api cedasi pāpebhyaḥ sarvebhyaḥ pāpakṛttamaḥ | sarvaṃ jñānaplavenaiva vṛjinaṃ santariṣyasi ||

Even if you were the worst sinner among all sinners, you would cross over all wrongdoing by the boat of knowledge alone.

Modern context

No one is beyond help. Even the worst of wrongdoers can cross over, and the vessel is knowledge. This is no licence to do wrong and repair it later. It is a refusal to let anyone be defined permanently by their past. Guilt can be as much of a trap as the original fault, because it keeps a person circling the same spot. Understanding carries one across. One sees clearly what one did and why, and is no longer the person who would do it.