How saint become sinner?

Question

what is the meaning of this quote

A saint is a sinner who never gave up.

I got this quote from here

My confusion is that how saint become sinner ?

Answer 1

Here's the full context of that quote. He's saying that even saints were once normal men i.e., sinners but they eventually overcame their flaws.

Sin Is Ignorance

"What is sin?" asked a disciple.

"Sin is error; it is born of ignorance," replied the Master.

"What is ignorance? What is error?"

"Ignorance is the lack of awareness of soul realities, and the substitution of this dream of delusion for those realities. Error is any action that is based on that misconception."

"Does not sin also mean breaking God's commandments?" inquired the disciple.

"Yes," replied Yogananda. "But ask yourself this: Why did God give mankind those commandments? It wasn't arbitrarily. And it certainly wasn't to keep us from finding happiness. Rather, it was to warn us that certain kinds of behavior will strengthen delusion's hold on our minds, and deprive us of the happiness.

"If one thinks of sin as breaking God's commandments, the thought then arises of God's anger and stern judgment. But the Lord is our very own! We are His children. Why should He judge us? It is we, rather, who judge ourselves when we imagine that anything we do is beyond forgiveness. But if we understand sin as error, we realize that our errors can be rectified."

Referring then to his own guru, Paramhansa Yogananda continued, "Sri Yukteswar used to say, as I wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi, 'Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until man is anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.'

"I always like to remind people of this simple truth: Saint is a sinner who never gave up!"

(The Essence of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda by Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters))