Meaning of “What Saith thy Conscience?—“Thou shalt become what thou…”

Socrates challenges the idea that widespread approval should decide a moral question, directing attention toward informed judgment rather than numerical popularity.

Nietzsche links attained freedom with release from self-shame, framing liberty as partly an inward change in one’s relation to oneself.

Respectability is grounded in independent reasoning rather than deference to social opinion, making judgment more important than approval.

The epigram provocatively suggests that adopting public opinion can sometimes substitute borrowed judgment for the harder work of forming one’s own view.

Stanton challenges a moral standard that praises women mainly for self-denial, arguing instead that developing one’s capacities is itself an important obligation.

Emerson attacks rigid consistency when it prevents people from revising judgment in the light of new thought.