--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have seen some whose consciences, owing…" description: "\"I have seen some whose consciences, owing undoubtedly to former indulgence, had grown to be as irritable as spoilt children, and at length gave them no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/henry-david-thoreau-20_anger_i-have-seen-some-whose-consciences-owing_2248647.jpg" --- # I have seen some whose consciences, owing undoubtedly to… ![“I have seen some whose consciences, owing undoubtedly to former indulgence, had grown to be as irritable as spoilt children, and at length gave them no peace. They did not know when to swallow their cud, and their lives of course yielded no milk.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/henry-david-thoreau-20_anger_i-have-seen-some-whose-consciences-owing_2248647.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/henry-david-thoreau-20_anger_i-have-seen-some-whose-consciences-owing_2248647.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/henry-david-thoreau-20_anger_i-have-seen-some-whose-consciences-owing_2248647.jpg) > “I have seen some whose consciences, owing undoubtedly to former indulgence, had grown to be as irritable as spoilt children, and at length gave them no peace. They did not know when to swallow their cud, and their lives of course yielded no milk.” [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Indulgent habits can make conscience irritable, leading to inner unrest and unproductive lives. **In simple terms:** Bad habits irritate conscience, cause unrest. Key Takeaway Cultivate moderation for inner peace. Themes self‑control conscience habit growth Mood reflective serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - mental health - daily routines Key Concepts irritability spiritual stagnation self‑discipline Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when a habit harms your conscience? - What steps can restore inner peace? A Different Perspective Changing habits is difficult and may require support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Consciences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciences/) [Consciences Owing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciences-owing-5126791/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Former](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/former/) [Grown Irritable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grown-irritable-5126792/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Indulgence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulgence/) [Irritable Spoilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irritable-spoilt-5126793/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Length](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/length/) [Milk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/milk/) [Owing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/owing/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Seen Consciences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seen-consciences-5126794/) [Spoilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoilt/) ## Related quotes > [Others -- as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders -- serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/others-as-most-legislators-politicians-lawyers-ministers-and-office/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“For though consciences are as unlike as foreheads, every intelligence, not including the Scriptural devils who "believe and tremble" has one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/for-though-consciences-are-as-unlike-as-foreheads-every-intelligence/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [We believe in enjoying the constitutional privilege and right of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-smith-jr/we-believe-in-enjoying-the-constitutional-privilege-and-right-of/) [Joseph Smith, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-smith-jr/) > [Corporations aren't people. They have no brains, no consciences, no capacity for intent or guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reich/corporations-aren-t-people-they-have-no-brains-no-consciences-no/) [Robert Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reich/) > [Some people say they will follow their conscience..many of us have dead consciences. Your conscience is no longer a safe guide. You've harden it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/some-people-say-they-will-follow-their-conscience-many-of-us-have/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I wanted my own words. But the ones I use have dragged through I don't know how many consciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wanted-my-own-words-but-the-ones-i-use-have-dragged-through-i-don-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Consciences keep silence more often than they should, that's why laws were created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/consciences-keep-silence-more-often-than-they-should-that-s-why-laws/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Our president is a Christian? So was Adolf Hitler. What can be said to our young people, now that psychopathic personalities, which is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/our-president-is-a-christian-so-was-adolf-hitler-what-can-be-said-to/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Nonviolent action does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/nonviolent-action-does-not-have-to-get-others-to-be-nice-it-can-in/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [I think writers write for their consciences, they write for their own true audiences, for their souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-yan/i-think-writers-write-for-their-consciences-they-write-for-their-own/) [Mo Yan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-yan/) > [Rather than dull our consciences to the unmitigated violence of abortion, the passage of time has only enabled us to see and, frankly, better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-smith/rather-than-dull-our-consciences-to-the-unmitigated-violence-of/) [Chris Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-smith/) > [Men's consciences ought in no sort to be violated, urged, or constrained. And whenever men have attempted any thing by this violent course, whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/men-s-consciences-ought-in-no-sort-to-be-violated-urged-or/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [“There is a way by which persons can keep their consciences clear before God and man, and that is to preserve within them the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-snow/there-is-a-way-by-which-persons-can-keep-their-consciences-clear/) [Lorenzo Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-snow/) > [We must enter and take possession of the consciences of the children, of the consciences of the young, because they do belong, and should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarco-elias-calles/we-must-enter-and-take-possession-of-the-consciences-of-the-children/) [Plutarco Elias Calles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarco-elias-calles/) > [“...those impious epicures, libertines, atheists, hypocrites, infidels, worldly, secure, impenitent, unthankful, and carnal-minded men, that attribute all to natural causes, that will acknowledge no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burton/those-impious-epicures-libertines-atheists-hypocrites-infidels/) [Robert Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burton/) ## More by Henry David Thoreau > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Men say they know many things; But lo! they have taken wings, — The arts and sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-say-they-know-many-things-but-lo-they-have-taken-wings-the-arts/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-not-afraid-of-praise-for-i-have-practiced-it-on-myself/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-lumberers-rarely-trouble-themselves-to-put-out-their-fires-such/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-he-has-obtained-those-things-which-are-necessary-to-life-there/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More Anger quotes > [“If I let myself think of it the pain and anger were still fresh, adrenalin racing down my limbs to pool, hot and itchy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-ladd/if-i-let-myself-think-of-it-the-pain-and-anger-were-still-fresh/) [Kylie Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-ladd/) > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [My care will be in the heart n not in words My anger will be in Words n not in the Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/my-care-will-be-in-the-heart-n-not-in-words-my-anger-will-be-in-words/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-a-negro-in-this-country-and-to-be-relatively-conscious-is-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/the-present-contains-nothing-more-than-the-past-and-what-is-found-in/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/depression-is-merely-anger-without-enthusiasm/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I always fight better when my opponent's angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-haye/i-always-fight-better-when-my-opponent-s-angry/) [David Haye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-haye/) > [ “Where there are kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed), there is worldly life. As long as anger-pride-deceit-greed exist; one is a sansaari \[living a worldly life\] regardless of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-there-are-kashays-anger-pride-deceit-greed-there-is-worldly/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) [Browse all 7,469 Anger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have seen some whose consciences, owing undoubtedly to former indulgence, had grown to be as irritable as spoilt children, and at length gave them no peace. 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