Ethics Quote by George Eliot
““The only conscience we can trust to is the massive sense of wrong in a class, and the best wisdom that will work is the wisdom of balancing claims. That’s my text—which side is injured? I support the man who supports their claims, not the virtuous upholder of the wrong.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch, 1871
Moral judgment should be based on collective sense of injustice, not individual virtue; balance claims to find fairness.
In simple terms: Justice comes from shared sense of wrong, not personal conscience.
Key Takeaway
Seek balanced perspectives when assessing disputes.
Themes
ethics
justice
balance
Mood
reflective
critical
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- court deliberations
- community decisions
- policy making
Key Concepts
social philosophy
conflict resolution
collective morality
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we ensure the collective sense is accurate?
- When should personal conscience override group opinion?
A Different Perspective
Individual conscience may miss systemic issues; collective sense can be biased too.
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
