To be guilty is bad, but to feel guilt is to know and understand that you've done something wrong, so it is a good thing. When you're guilty, you are responsible for something bad happening. When you feel guilt, you are aware that you've done something wrong, and feel bad about it, meaning that you want to do good :)

it can be both. if it leads you to make up for something you did, then it is good. If you wallow in it, that is unproductive and does no one any good. best to fess up and take whatever punishment you deserve on the chin, and get it over with. then remember not to do it again. without guilt, people would hurt people and damage things without a second thought. that is why it is placed within us.

Guilt means the person feeling it has a conscience. That can only be a good thing.

Guilt is a bad thing, although it may lead to repentance and personal growth, which are good things. On the other hand, it may not.

I think it depends on the circumstances because when you do something that you know its wrong its perfectly normal to feel guilty so you can fix or a least try to fix what you've done wrong but if you feel guilty for something that you didn't do i think is wrong because it only hurts you and theres nothing you can do about it.

guilt: 1. awareness of wrongdoing: an awareness of having done wrong or committed a crime, accompanied by feelings of shame and regret 2. fact of wrongdoing: the fact of having committed a crime or done wrong 3. responsibility for wrongdoing: the responsibility for committing a crime or doing wrong http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861615755 guilt (FEELING) a feeling of anxiety or unhappiness that you have because you have done something wrong, such as causing harm to another person "He suffered such feelings of guilt over leaving his children." http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=34902&dict=CALD a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined. http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/guilt (informal) A guilt trip is a strong feeling of having done something wrong in a particular situation If someone has a guilty conscience, they are unhappy because of something they feel they have done wrong. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=guilt*1+0&dict=A Feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing http://www.allwords.com/query.php?SearchType=3&Keyword=guilt&goquery=Find+it%21&Language=ENG A feeling of regret or remorse for having committed some improper act; a recognition of one's own responsibility for doing something wrong. "Depression is often rooted in guilt which has not been dealt with in an appropriate way." "Guilt is a natural and appropriate consequence to a wrong action." http://www.freedictionary.org/?Query=guilt a. Remorseful awareness of having done something wrong. b. Self-reproach for supposed inadequacy or wrongdoing. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/guilt Subjective feeling of having committed an error, offense or sin; unpleasant feeling of self-criticism. These result from acts, impulses, or thoughts contrary to one's personal conscience. http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?guilt a strong feeling of guilt. "I'm on a guilt trip about not visiting my parents often enough." http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/guilt Traditional Japanese society and Ancient Greek society are sometimes said to be "shame-based" rather than "guilt-based" in that the social consequences of "getting caught" are seen as more important than the individual feelings or experiences of the agent. This may lead to more of a focus on etiquette than ethics as understood in Western civilization. This leads some to question why then we would adapt the word ethos from Ancient Greek when their norms are so different from ours. Psychopaths typically exhibit a "lack of remorse or guilt" in the face of wrongdoing. This is seen by psychologists as part of a lack of moral reasoning in comparison with the majority of humans, an inability to evaluate situations in a moral framework and an inability to develop emotional bonds with other people. Guilt, in psychology, a term denoting an unpleasant feeling associated with unfulfilled wishes. Sigmund Freud initially contended that sexual drives produce sense of guilt in the superego, the moral conscience of the mind. He later maintained, however, that guilt was associated with aggressive impulses. Freud felt that guilt was often confused with remorse, the former being an emotion signaling the presence of aggressive wishes, the latter a self-imposed punishment which occurs if the aggressive wish is fulfilled. With meditation, people can overcome bad effects of guilt.

Guilt serves no purpose at all,and is bad in it's nature.

Well, if you steal from someone and you feel guilty enough to confess and you bring back whatever you stole, it's a good thing. On the other hand, if someone has guilt when they really shouldn't have guilt, it can be very destructive to their spirit.

I know what people are like that don't have it, so I definitely feel that it is a good thing.

Guilt's a good thing if it results in finding a way to come to terms with wrongs, accepting them and moving on from them. It means the guilt was put to good use and the effects are positive for all those associated with it. ~ Guilt's a bad thing when one holds onto it so strongly that they become firmly stuck in it and cannot move past or beyond it, and as such, allow it to control the very basis of who and what they are and will become.

guilt the human condition of an overwhelming feeling of wrong doing to others or onesself. The condition it's self can be charaterized by not stop reliving of events that now plague the host to the point of confession, the condition is now leviated and normal thought returns along with normal behavior. guilt is a challenge, that is not without consequence, good or bad, guilt it self is the punishment.

We need to differentiate between actual "guilt" and simply "guilty feelings." "Guilty feelings" are about as useless as tits on a boar, and should be banned. They simply make you feel bad, but without your being able to do anything about it. Actual guilt can wind you up in jail, or worse.

Bad, get it off your chest.

Fuggit! ;-)

It is a Good thing. Yes, it's your Brain or Spiritual code of conduct telling you that you still have Ethical and or Moral character. Live by this ot you may loose who you are on the inside.

Guilt is a biproduct of your conscience and is a bad/good thing (if that makes any sense). Bad if you never feel it and have done wrong, bad if you feel it because you have done wrong. Good if you never feel it because you have always done right, good if you feel it and have done wrong only because it is proof that you actually have a conscience. I hope it makes sense to you...it does in my head...hmmmm.

i belive its a good thing

It's both. It's good that your conscience is working and maybe it will keep you from repeating it or get you to make up for what you just did. Or it could be bad that you did something wrong. But hopefully it will be a good motivation to get someone to change and never to do it again.

its good because it shows that your conscience is working, like it should.

baddd. b/c you shldnt feel bad about saying or doing anything. Its already done whatever your feeling guilty about so why bother cuz if you were to go back in time you would be lieing if you sad you would change it. Just like you shld never say sorry cuz you never mean it.

It could be both.

I believe it to be a good thing...What would this world be like if we performed acts of cruelty or did bad things and then did not have guilt to follow that up...Sure there are those who do these kinds of things and are guiltless but for most of us in this world we feel this emotion when we do something bad and at the same time we learn from it...That's just what I think and means very little in a world gone bonkers...

Good. It means = HEY YOU, YOUVE DONE SOMETHING VERY WRONG...YOU BETTER MAKE IT RIGHT, RIGHT NOW.