--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The strongest feelings assigned to the…" description: "\"The strongest feelings assigned to the conscience are not moral feelings at all; they express merely physical antipathies.\" — George Santayana" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/934/george-santayana-478_antipathy_the-strongest-feelings-assigned-to-the-c_2702385.png" --- # The strongest feelings assigned to the conscience are not… ![“The strongest feelings assigned to the conscience are not moral feelings at all; they express merely physical antipathies.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/934/george-santayana-478_antipathy_the-strongest-feelings-assigned-to-the-c_2702385.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/934/george-santayana-478_antipathy_the-strongest-feelings-assigned-to-the-c_2702385.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/934/george-santayana-478_antipathy_the-strongest-feelings-assigned-to-the-c_2702385.png) > “The strongest feelings assigned to the conscience are not moral feelings at all; they express merely physical antipathies.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral feelings are actually physical aversions, not ethical judgments. **In simple terms:** Moral feelings are physical dislikes. Key Takeaway Recognize the physical basis of moral judgments. Themes morality psychology physics emotions Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - ethical debates - personal decision making - therapy sessions Key Concepts ethics neuroscience philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do physical antipathies shape moral codes? - Can we separate feeling from reason? A Different Perspective Physical basis may not explain complex moral reasoning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antipathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antipathy/) [Assigned Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assigned-conscience-2744132/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Conscience Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience-moral-869102/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-feelings-1807716/) [Physical Antipathies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-antipathies-2744131/) [Strongest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strongest/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot assume the injustice of any actions which only create offense, and especially as regards religion and morals. He who utters or does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/we-cannot-assume-the-injustice-of-any-actions-which-only-create/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [“The theater in which God has chosen to meet rational creatures quietly is the inward realm of conscience, moral reasoning, prayer, and study, especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-oden/the-theater-in-which-god-has-chosen-to-meet-rational-creatures/) [Thomas C. Oden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-oden/) > [“To the accepted Christian tradition that man must be free to follow his conscience in moral matters if his actions are to be of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-a-hayek/to-the-accepted-christian-tradition-that-man-must-be-free-to-follow/) [Friedrich A. 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The message about the nature of framing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/your-moral-feelings-are-attached-to-frames-to-descriptions-of-reality/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [In the metaphysical elements of aesthetics the various nonmoral feelings are to be made use of; in the elements of moral metaphysics the various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/in-the-metaphysical-elements-of-aesthetics-the-various-nonmoral/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The subjectivist in morals, when his moral feelings are at war with the facts about him, is always free to seek harmony by toningdown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-subjectivist-in-morals-when-his-moral-feelings-are-at-war-with/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Evolution, therefore, cannot account for the origin of our moral feelings, let alone for the fact that we all believe there are external moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-j-keller/evolution-therefore-cannot-account-for-the-origin-of-our-moral/) [Timothy J. Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-j-keller/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Antipathy quotes > [ANTIPATHY, n. The sentiment inspired by one's friend's friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/antipathy-n-the-sentiment-inspired-by-one-s-friend-s-friend/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“Our natures own predilections and antipathies alike strange. There are people from whom we secretly shrink, whom we would personally avoid, though reason confesses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/our-natures-own-predilections-and-antipathies-alike-strange-there-are/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The double law of attraction and radiation or of sympathy and antipathy, of fixedness and movement, which is the principle of Creation, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/the-double-law-of-attraction-and-radiation-or-of-sympathy-and/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [If people tell you what you really don't want to hear what's unpleasant-there's an almost automatic reaction of antipathy. You have to train yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-people-tell-you-what-you-really-don-t-want-to-hear-what-s/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I do not dislike the French from the vulgar antipathy between neighboring nations, but for their insolent and unfounded air of superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/i-do-not-dislike-the-french-from-the-vulgar-antipathy-between/) [Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/) > [Above all things the mass-mind is most bitterly resentful of superiority. It will not tolerate the thought of an elite; and under a political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-nock/above-all-things-the-mass-mind-is-most-bitterly-resentful-of/) [Albert J. Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/) > [The thing about youthful offenders is that no one seems to care about them. Most people don't like adolescents - even the good ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/the-thing-about-youthful-offenders-is-that-no-one-seems-to-care-about/) [Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/) > [Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and an antipathetic sympathy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/dread-is-a-sympathetic-antipathy-and-an-antipathetic-sympathy/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. 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