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Conscience Quotes

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Conscience Quotes

“Nonviolence is a powerful as well as a just weapon. If you confront a man who has long been cruelly misusing you, and say, "Punish me, if you will; I do not deserve it, but I will accept it, so that the world will know I am right and you are wrong," then you wield a powerful and a just weapon. This man, your oppressor, is automatically morally defeated, and if he has any conscience, he is ashamed.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Equity is a roguish thing. For Law we have a measure, know what to trust to; Equity is according to the conscience of him that is Chancellor, and as that is larger or narrower, so is Equity. 'T is all one as if they should make the standard for the measure we call a "foot" a Chancellor's foot; what an uncertain measure would this be! One Chancellor has a long foot, another a short foot, a third an indifferent foot. 'T is the same thing in the Chancellor's conscience.”

IfsKnowsShouldLongLawFeetStandardsConscienceThirdsIndifferentUncertainEquityOne Chance
Author:John Selden
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“As a prisoner of conscience committed to peaceful transition to democracy, I urge Europe to apply economic sanctions against Ethiopia. What short-term pain may result will be compensated by long-term gain. A pledge to re-engage energetically with a democratic Ethiopia would act as a catalyst for reform.”

MayLongPainTermResultsDemocracyEconomicConscienceGainsEuropeDemocraticCommittedPeacefulReformLong TermUrgesPrisonerTransitionShort TermPledgeSanctionsCatalystEthiopiaEconomic Sanctions
Author:Eskinder Nega
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“The most reckless sinner against his own conscience has always in the background the consolation that he will go on in this course only this time, or only so long, but that at such a time he will amend. We may be assured that we do not stand clear with our own consciences so long as we determine or project, or even hold it possible, at some future time to alter our course of action.”

MayLongActionCoursesClearGoes OnProjectsConscienceDetermineBackgroundsSinnerConsolationAssuredRecklessFuture Time
Author:Johann Gottlieb Fichte
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“Conscience is a creator of meaning. As a sense of constraint rooted in our emotional ties to one another, it prevents life from devolving into nothing but a long and essentially boring game of attempted dominance over our fellow human beings, and for every limitation conscience imposes on us, it gives us a moment of connectedness with an other, a bridge to someone or something outside of our often meaningless schemes.”

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Author:Martha Stout
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“Now are the days, of humblest prayer, When consciences to God lie bare, And mercy most delights to spare. Oh hearken when we cry. Now is the season, wisely long, Of sadder thought and graver song, When ailing souls grow well and strong. Oh hearken when we cry. The feast of penance! Oh so bright, With true conversion's heavenly light, Like sunrise after stormy night! Oh hearken when we cry. Oh happy time of blessed tears, Of surer hopes, of chast'ning fears, Undoing all our evil years. Oh hearken when we cry. Chastise us with Thy fear; Yet, Father! in the multitude Of Thy compassions, hear!”

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Author:Frederick William Faber
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“In the first place, the government ought not to be invested with power to control the affections, any more than the consciences of citizens. A man has at least as good a right to choose his wife, as he has to choose his religion. His taste may not suit his neighbors; but so long as his deportment is correct, they have no right to interfere with his concerns.”

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Author:Lydia M. Child
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“An older child, one who possesses a conscience, will be troubled with self-reproaches and feelings of shame for his naughtiness, even if he is not discovered. But our two-year-olds and our three-year- olds experience guilt feelings only when they feel or anticipate disapproval from the outside. In doing this, they have taken the first steps toward the goal of conscience, but there is a long way ahead before the policeman outside becomes the policeman inside.”

IfsWayFeelsYearsFirstsChildrenLongTwoSelfFeelingsThreeGoalStepsTakenConscienceShameGuiltTwo YearsThree YearsFirst StepsLong WayPolicemenAnticipateReproachDisapprovalThree Year OldsTwo Year OldsGuilt Feelings
Author:Selma Fraiberg
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“Don't aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run — in the long run, I say — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.”

ThinkingWantPersonsLongDoeHappensMotivationalRunningCausesSidesGreaterEffectsMissingProductsGoes OnConscienceAimForgottenOneselfCaringSurrenderCommandTargetDedicationLong RunsI Want YouPursuedSearch For MeaningSide EffectsNot CaringMans Search For MeaningAuthentic HappinessAdmonishStimulus And Response
Book:The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny
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“Freedom is necessary for two reasons. It's necessary for the individual, because the individual, no matter how good the society is, every individual has hopes, fears, ambitions, creative urges, that transcend the purposes of his society. Therefore we have a long history of freedom, where people try to extricate themselves from tyranny for the sake of art, for the sake of science, for the sake of religion, for the sake of the conscience of the individual - this freedom is necessary for the individual.”

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Author:Reinhold Niebuhr
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“Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”

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Book:Why We Can't Wait
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“It does not matter what religion you are as long as your conscience guides your words and actions. We are all reflections of God means we are all reflections of his image - which is LIGHT. There is only one God and that is the cosmic heart of the universe - whatever you choose to call him or her. The heart within us is what connects us to God (the heart of the universe). This super basic concept is preached in all religions. God is TRUTH and LIGHT. Only through your conscience do you connect to him.”

HeartMeanLongDoeMatterLightActionUniverseReflectionConscienceConceptsGuidesCosmicYou ChooseReligion GodWords And Actions
Author:Suzy Kassem
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“I learned a long time ago with you that folks who were trying to be kind would rather do it with a macaroni-and-cheese bake than any personal involvement. You hand off a serving dish and you've done your job - no need to get personally involved, and your conscience is clean. Food is the currency of aid.”

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Book:Handle with Care: A Novel
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“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”

WayLittlesLongI CanEyeUniverseJusticeMoralAtheismFiguresDivineConscienceSightAtheistCurvesArcs
Book:Centenary Edition [of the Writings of Theodore Parker]
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“It wasn't about wanting to die or having nothing left to live for; it was about letting go. You live your life doing what you're supposed to do, following the rules, following your conscience no matter what your gut tells you - and most times, that's okay. Control is good. It allows you to believe in certainty and absolutes, like lining up the perfect shot. But when you hold on for so long, and hold on so tight, every once in a while you have to close your eyes and jump." Kelley Armstrong - Exit Strategy”

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Book:Exit Strategy
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“Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless. It enslaves him almost before he has tasted freedom. The 'ologies' will tell you how its done Theology calls it building a conscience or developing a spirit of selflessness. Psychology calls it the growth of the superego. Considering how long society has been at it, you'd expect a better job. But the campaigns have been badly planned and the victory has never been secured.”

LongHas BeensDoneJobsSpiritIndividualGrowthPsychologyBuildingVictoryConscienceCampaignsTheologyDevelopingHelplessConsideringSelflessnessSecuredBetter JobsSuperego
Author:B. F. Skinner
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“The study of law can be disappointing at times, a matter of applying narrow rules and arcane procedure to an uncooperative reality; a sort of glorified accounting that serves to regulate the affairs of those who have power--and that all too often seeks to explain, to those who do not, the ultimate wisdom and justness of their condition. But that's not all the law is. The law is also memory; the law also records a long-running conversation, a nation arguing with its conscience.”

LongMatterRealityRunningLawNationsMemoriesStudyRecordsConditionsConversationConscienceUltimateAffairArguingProceduresAccountingDisappointingLaw SchoolArcaneDreams From My FatherUncooperative
Book:Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
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“Laziness and cowardice explain why so many men. . . remain under a life-long tutelage and why it is so easy for some men to set themselves up as the guardians of all the rest. . . If I have a book which understands for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me, a doctor who decides my diet, I need not trouble myself. If I am willing to pay, I need not think. Others will do it for me.”

IfsThinkingMenNeedsLongBookEasyPayTroubleWillingConscienceDoctorsDietsCowardiceLazinessPastorGuardianLong LifeDoctor WhoTutelage
Author:Immanuel Kant
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“He’d only ever seen a gun once, a smaller one on the hip of that old deputy, a gun he’d always figured was more for show. He stuffed a fistful of deadly rounds in his pocket, thinking how each one could end an individual life, and understanding why such things were forbidden. Killing a man should be harder than waving a length of pipe in their direction. It should take long enough for one’s conscience to get in the way.”

ThinkingMenWayShouldLongEndsEnoughShowsIndividualUnderstandingGunConscienceHarderKillingRoundsHipsPocketsLengthForbiddenPipeIndividual LifeDeputiesUnderstanding WhyKilling A Man
Author:Hugh Howey
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“Of a truth, Knowledge is power, but it is a power reined by scruple, having a conscience of what must be and what may be; whereas Ignorance is a blind giant who, let him but wax unbound, would make it a sport to seize the pillars that hold up the long-wrought fabric of human good, and turn all the places of joy as dark as a buried Babylon.”

HumansMayLongJoyTurnsSportsDarkKnowledgePowerIgnoranceConscienceBlindGiantsBuriedFabricPillarsKnowledge Is PowerScruplesBabylonUnbound
Book:Daniel Deronda
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“This revelation of the secrets of nature, long mercifully withheld from man, should arouse the most solemn reflections in the mind and conscience of every human being capable of comprehension. We must indeed pray that these awful agencies will be made to conduce to peace among the nations, and that instead of wreaking measureless havoc upon the entire globe, may become a perennial fountain of world prosperity.”

MenWorldShouldMindHumansMayLongMadeScienceNationsNatureHuman BeingsSecretPrayingCapableReflectionConscienceProsperityAwfulAgencyRevelationsGlobesFountainSolemnComprehensionHavoc
Book:War Speeches: From September 11, 1943 to August 16, 1945
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“Remember, character is not of much value. What is valuable is consciousness - not conscience but consciousness. Conscience is created by the society. The more foolish you are, the more the society is able to create a conscience in you. It gives you an idea how to live your life. It manipulates you in a very subtle way. It hypnotizes you and conditions you. And the conditioning is so long that you forget completely that these are not your ideas.”

WayGivingLongIdeasCharacterAbleRememberValuesForgetConsciousnessSocietyConditionsConscienceValuableFoolishSubtleLive Your LifeManipulateConditioning
Author:Rajneesh
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“I am for liberty of conscience in its noblest, broadest, and highest sense. But I cannot give liberty of conscience to the pope and his followers, the papists, so long as they tell me, through all their councils, theologians, and canon laws that their conscience orders them to burn my wife, strangle my children, and cut my throat when they find their opportunity.”

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Author:Abraham Lincoln
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“It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation may suit spirits emancipated from this 'heavy clay', but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for a while”

MayLongSometimesRunningSpiritLordDoubtCryHolyConscienceHeavySuitsLeisureNow And ThenLong RunsGoing OutClayOccasionalInactionRecreationHaltHarnessLawfulness
Author:Charles Spurgeon
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“The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this temptation, from Spartacus to Danton and Dostoevsky; they are the classical form of betrayal of the cause. The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan. As long as chaos dominates the world, God is an anachronism; and every compromise with one’s own conscience is perfidy. When the accursed inner voice speaks to you, hold your hands over your ears….”

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Author:Arthur Koestler
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“Living through the 1929 Great Depression helped shape my social conscience. During this time, I realized the earth was still the same place, manufacturing plants were still intact, and resources were still there, but people didn’t have money to buy the products. I felt the rules of the game we play by were outmoded and damaging. This began a life-long quest resulting in the conclusions and designs presented in The Venus Project.”

PeopleLongStillsPlayEarthGamesSocialFeltDesignProductsShapesProjectsConscienceResourcesPlantI RealizedConclusionQuestsLong LifeManufacturingGreat DepressionVenusRules Of The Game
Author:Jacque Fresco
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“People who believe in themselves and in a cause greater than themselves can achieve great things-as long as they have a well-intentioned leader to point them in the right direction.”

PeopleBelieveWellsLongCausesLeadershipLeaderGreaterAchieveConscienceGreat ThingsRight Direction
Book:The Leader's Pocket Guide: 101 Indispensable Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Any Situation
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