“Conscience is the most sacred thing among men.”

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
Context: Conscience is the most sacred thing among men. Every man has within him a still small voice, which tells him that nothing on earth can oblige him to believe that which he does not believe. The worst of all tyrannies is that which obliges eighteen-twentieths of a nation to embrace a religion contrary to their beliefs, under penalty of being denied their rights as citizens and of owning property, which, in effect, is the same thing as being without a country.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Conscience is the most sacred thing among men." by Napoleon I of France?
Napoleon I of France photo
Napoleon I of France 259
French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French 1769–1821

Related quotes

James Madison photo

“Conscience is the most sacred of all property”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

"Property" in The National Gazette (29 March 1792)
1790s
Context: Conscience is the most sacred of all property; other property depending in part on positive law, the exercise of that being a natural and unalienable right. To guard a man's house as his castle, to pay public and enforce private debts with the most exact faith, can give no title to invade a man's conscience, which is more sacred than his castle, or to withhold from it that debt of protection for which the public faith is pledged by the very nature and original conditions of the social pact.

Henry Taylor photo

“Conscience is, in most men, an anticipation of the opinions of others.”

Henry Taylor (1800–1886) English playwright and poet

Source: The Statesman (1836), Ch. 9. p. 63

Jacques Barzun photo

“Among the words that can be all things to all men, the word "race" has a fair claim to being the most common, most ambiguous and most explosive.”

Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) Historian

Race: A Study in Modern Superstition (1937)
Context: Among the words that can be all things to all men, the word "race" has a fair claim to being the most common, most ambiguous and most explosive. No one today would deny that it is one of the great catchwords about which ink and blood are spilled in reckless quantities. Yet no agreement seems to exist about what race means.

Giordano Bruno photo

“If all things are in common among friends, the most precious is Wisdom.”

Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) Italian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer

As quoted in Giordano Bruno : His Life and Thought (1950) by Dorothea Waley Singer http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/bruno03.htm#CH3
Context: If all things are in common among friends, the most precious is Wisdom. What can Juno give which thou canst not receive from Wisdom? What mayest thou admire in Venus which thou mayest not also contemplate in Wisdom? Her beauty is not small, for the lord of all things taketh delight in her. Her I have loved and diligently sought from my youth up.

Mark Twain photo
Alan Watts photo

“Wonder is not a disease. Wonder, and its expression in poetry and the arts, are among the most important things which seem to distinguish men from other animals, and intelligent and sensitive people from morons.”

Alan Watts (1915–1973) British philosopher, writer and speaker

Inside Information p. 7
The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (1966)

Anatole France photo

“In every well-governed state, wealth is a sacred thing; in democracies it is the only sacred thing.”

Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer

Dans tout État policé, la richesse est chose sacrée; dans les démocraties elle est la seule chose sacrée.
L'Île des Pingouins http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/L%27%C3%8Ele_des_Pingouins_-_Livre_VI_:_Les_Temps_modernes#CHAPITRE_II._PYROT [Penguin Island] (1908), Book VI: Les Temps Modernes, Ch. II: Pyrot

David O. McKay photo

“Liberty and conscience thus became a sacred part of human nature. Freedom not only to think, but to speak and act is a God-given privilege.”

David O. McKay (1873–1970) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Improvement Era (October 1958) pp 718-719
Context: Next to life we express gratitude for the gift of free agency. When thou didst create man, thou placed within him part of thine omnipotence and bade him choose for himself. Liberty and conscience thus became a sacred part of human nature. Freedom not only to think, but to speak and act is a God-given privilege.

Abraham Joshua Heschel photo

“Pagans exalt sacred things, the Prophets extol sacred deeds.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi

The Earth Is The Lord's : And The Sabbath (1963), p. 14

Related topics