Dhammapada · 5.12

Na hi pāpaṃ kataṃ kammaṃ, sajju khīraṃva muccati;Ḍahantaṃ bālamanveti, bhasmacchannova pāvako.

Na hi papam katam kammam, sajju khiramva muccati; Dahantam balamanveti, bhasmacchannova pavako.

An evil deed once done does not curdle immediately like fresh milk — burning, it follows the fool, like a fire covered in ashes.

— Dhammapada 5.12

Source: Pali text from the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali Canon (oldest extant Buddhist scripture, compiled c. 3rd century BCE). Public-domain English readings drawn from F. Max Müller's translation in Sacred Books of the East, Vol X (1881) and the Buddhist Publication Society's freely-licensed Acharya Buddharakkhita rendering.