Conscience quotes

The Age of Reason, Part I, Chapter I, “The Author’s Profession of Faith”; Moncure Daniel Conway collected/edited text represented by Project Gutenberg #3743 and cross-checked against Wikisource. “My own mind is my own church” follows Paine’s rejection of compulsory institutional creeds and states his historical deist emphasis on individual conscience and reason; this collection does not flatten it into a context-free rejection of all community, worship or institutions.

The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Chapter XII; Constance Garnett translation, Project Gutenberg #43302. In the concluding chapter Tolstoy discusses soldiers, authority, hypnotic social conditioning and moral responsibility, arguing that conscience may be put to sleep without being destroyed.

My Religion, Chapter XII; Huntington Smith translation, represented 1885 Crowell edition, Project Gutenberg #43794. In the concluding chapter Tolstoy argues that truth becomes transmissible when embodied in action and brought to individual conscience; the explicitly Christian and social context remains visible.

Proverbs 11:3 in the King James Version; the opening clause is quoted here.

The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Chapter XII; Constance Garnett translation, Project Gutenberg #43302. In the concluding chapter Tolstoy locates human freedom in the recognition or rejection of truth already revealed to conscience; the sentence states that freedom lies in this choice.

The Analects of Confucius, James Legge’s public-domain English translation; Book II connects moral recognition with the courage required for action.

The Power of Truth, opening chapter, Project Gutenberg #56020; the dash is retained from the represented public-domain text.

The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 270; Thomas Common translation. The formula has a longer classical and Nietzschean history, so this record is tied specifically to this occurrence.

Character Building, “What Is To Be Our Future?”, Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington asks whether Tuskegee will remain worthy of public confidence and answers by requiring each student and worker to put conscience and full effort into every kind of work.

Crito, Socrates questioning Crito during the prison discussion after establishing a rule against retaliation; Benjamin Jowett English translation, Project Gutenberg #1657. The sentence begins after Socrates says he will put the next point as a question. The question is not an unqualified defense of obedience to every law; the dialogue stages an argument about obligations to the city.

Civil Disobedience, first printed in 1849 as “Resistance to Civil Government”; represented Wikisource text. The surrounding paragraph asks whether citizens should resign conscience to legislators.

Eighty Years and More (1898), Chapter XIV, “Views on Marriage and Divorce,” Project Gutenberg #11982. This sentence immediately follows Stanton’s individual-sovereignty claim inside her quoted April 1894 Arena article: she contrasts older state/family primacy with the Christian claim of individual conscience and judgment. The passage is historical reform argument, not modern constitutional or family-law doctrine.

The Simple Life, Chapter V, “Simple Duty,” Mary Louise Hendee translation, Project Gutenberg #23092; Wagner contrasts ordinary duty with inflated moral ambition.

The Power of Truth, opening chapter, Project Gutenberg #56020; the sentence summarizes Jordan’s conduct-of-life definition of truth.

Civil Disobedience, first published in 1849 as 'Resistance to Civil Government'; reviewed in the public-domain Miscellanies transcription. The obligation-to-do-right sentence occurs early in Thoreau's argument contrasting conscience with automatic deference to majority rule and law. It remains historical political philosophy rather than current legal advice or a blanket instruction to violate law.

Enchiridion, chapter 35, George Long translation; the following sentence distinguishes right action from fear of wrong criticism.

How to Succeed; the sentence appears in Marden’s discussion of temptation, aspiration, and the damage caused when self-respect is surrendered.

Character Building, “Each One His Part,” Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington asks whether Tuskegee can educate an individual conscience that performs small duties thoroughly even when no audience is watching; the question closes that address’s argument about conscientious responsibility.

Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII, Project Gutenberg #1260. Jane answers the pressure to remain with Rochester by saying she cares for herself and will respect herself more when friendless and unsupported, then explicitly invokes law, principles and temptation. It is fictional first-person moral reasoning under dramatic pressure, not Charlotte Brontë autobiography or universal relationship advice.

Plato, Crito, approximately 48b, Socrates speaking with Crito in prison; Benjamin Jowett public-domain English, Gutenberg #1657. The conditional question occurs in the dramatic text after a discussion of justice, public opinion and fear of execution. Socrates is the dramatic speaker; it is not a recorded autobiographical quotation by Plato.

Character Building, “What Will Pay?”, Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington reports a discussion of honesty in business and uses conscience as a practical test of conduct; the sentence belongs to that address’s argument that dishonest dealing does not pay.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; the passage rejects a separate moral standard built around sex rather than shared human duties.