Quotes About Conscience

we handed him back his province and left our allies to be crucified and sawn in two. They were innocent. They thought we'd stay. But we were liberals and we didn't want a bad conscience.

You can't blame the innocent, they are always guiltless.

Human nature too has curious twisted reasons that the heart certainly knows nothing of. It eased the conscience of many small men to feel that they were working for

Ah, children, pity level-crossing keepers, pity lock-keepers – pity lighthouse-keepers – pity all the keepers of this world (pity even school teachers), caught between their conscience and the bleak horizon…

EMMA: Ah. There you are. You— little— John Sublime: Shhuhh… Hup. Don't. Please… My mom met your parents in the Hamptons… I… I go through agonies of conscience every time we have to hurt one of you beautiful creatures… Emma… I'm doing God's will… EMMA: Shut up! I am very cross about this! Very very very cross indeed! I look like a bloody heavyweight boxer!

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Doing the right thing feels like shit.

What if the worst thing you ever did was something you didn't do?

Remember,' Khader said insistently, resting his hand on my forearm to emphasise his words. 'Sometimes it is necessary to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. The important thing is to be sure that our reasons are right, and that we admit the wrong--that we do not lie to ourselves, and convince ourselves that what we do is right.

Enough obedience will let people do just about anything to other people', I said. 'I like that answer,' Idriss said. Praise from the wise is the sweetest wine. I felt the warmth of it inside. 'Obedience is the assassin of conscience,' Idriss said softly, 'and that is why every lasting institution demands it.

Fear and guilt are the dark angels that haunt rich men.

Khaderbhai once said that every virtuous act is inspired by a dark secret.

But I didn't know that then. I washed my hands in the cold, uncaring sea, and my conscience was as silent and remote as the mute, unreachable stars.

Most bayonets throughout history have probably not been used because soldiers just can't do it, something holds them back... the same goes for shooting the enemy. We've got this fascinating evidence from the Second World War, and also from other wars, that most soldiers couldn't do it.

To put it mildly, nothing can be turned and worn inside out with greater ease than one's notion of social justice, public conscience, a better future, etc.

On the throne, one has many worries; and remorse is the one that weighs the least.

Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse.

I could have made money this way, and perhaps amused myself writing code. But I knew that at the end of my career, I would look back on years of building walls to divide people, and feel I had spent my life making the world a worse place.

The only thing worse than an active conscience is one that's retroactive.

If you impose morality on people, they will find ways to circumvent their guilt. They will make offerings to temples - or other places of worship - but also continue doing things that make them feel guilty.

Claiming for ourselves liberty of conscience, liberty to worship, we shall see to it that every other individual enjoys the same right.

It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don't regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn't save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I'm not naive, and I don't romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job.

The worst thing about war was the sitting around and wondering what you were doing morally.

The best thing about me is that I am generally very honest - not hurtfully honest, but honest. The worst thing about me is that everybody can make me feel guilty. I feel responsible about things that don't even concern me.