Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Though asleep, the conscience is there”
- Date
- 1894
- English wording
- Constance Garnett — Translator · from Russian
Meaning of “Though asleep, the conscience is there”
Tolstoy argues that social conditioning can suppress moral awareness without eliminating it, leaving open the possibility that conscience can reawaken.
Where does it come from?
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.
