--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most people sell their souls, and live…" description: "\"Most people sell their souls, and live with a good conscience on the proceeds.\" — Logan Pearsall Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png" --- # Most people sell their souls, and live with a good… ![“Most people sell their souls, and live with a good conscience on the proceeds.” quote by Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png) > “Most people sell their souls, and live with a good conscience on the proceeds.” [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often compromise moral integrity for material gain, yet they rationalize it by believing their conscience remains untroubled. **In simple terms:** Compromise morality for profit, but feel fine. Key Takeaway Beware rationalizing unethical choices. Themes ethics materialism self‑deception Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - business decisions - personal finance - career advancement - political lobbying Key Concepts Moral philosophy psychology social critique Questions to Reflect On - What compromises have you justified? - How do you assess the true cost of profit? A Different Perspective The quote may overgeneralize and ignore genuine altruism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Conscience Proceeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience-proceeds-4874153/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Good Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-conscience/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Sell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-sell-412789/) [Sell Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sell-souls-1039428/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [“Thou knowest that these things which I say are true, and that I was never delighted in my own praise, for the secret of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius-d-524/thou-knowest-that-these-things-which-i-say-are-true-and-that-i-was/) [Boethius D. 524](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius-d-524/) > [A good conscience is a continual Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/a-good-conscience-is-a-continual-christmas/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Faith is a good conscience of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/faith-is-a-good-conscience-of-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“There is a unique pleasure in obedience. The answer of a good conscience brings into the heart a peace and satisfaction that nothing can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-andreola/there-is-a-unique-pleasure-in-obedience-the-answer-of-a-good/) [Karen Andreola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-andreola/) > [A good conscience and a good confidence go together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/a-good-conscience-and-a-good-confidence-go-together/) [Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/) > [No one talks more passionately about his rights than he who in the depths of his soul doubts whether he has any. By enlisting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-one-talks-more-passionately-about-his-rights-than-he-who-in-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“You say great artists sell their souls for their art?" "Maybe," she ventured. "That's true, I suppose. If you're doing it right, anyway. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-starbuck/you-say-great-artists-sell-their-souls-for-their-art-maybe-she/) [Sam Starbuck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-starbuck/) > [It is true everyone is going to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, but they're going to have to sell their souls for it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-bachchan-nanda/it-is-true-everyone-is-going-to-enjoy-their-15-minutes-of-fame-but/) [Shweta Bachchan Nanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-bachchan-nanda/) > [I hate doctors! They'll do anything... to keep you coming to them. They'll sell their souls. What's worse, they'll sell yours, and you never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/i-hate-doctors-they-ll-do-anything-to-keep-you-coming-to-them-they-ll/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“In your world the weak sell their souls a bit at a time" - Ketastrina”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ambrose/in-your-world-the-weak-sell-their-souls-a-bit-at-a-time-ketastrina/) [Lawrence Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ambrose/) > [Some people will do anything to be famous some would sell there souls to get a taste of famous life to be honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-myers-jr/some-people-will-do-anything-to-be-famous-some-would-sell-there-souls/) [Michael Myers Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-myers-jr/) > [“Doesn't everyone sell his soul? I tell you, sir: the devil does not exist, there is no devil, yet I sold him my soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-o-guimar-es-rosa/doesn-t-everyone-sell-his-soul-i-tell-you-sir-the-devil-does-not/) [João Guimarães Rosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-o-guimar-es-rosa/) > [“we sell our souls in public and buy them back in private, among”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/we-sell-our-souls-in-public-and-buy-them-back-in-private-among/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Statistics show that most mortals sell their souls for five reasons: sex, money, power, revenge, and love. In that order.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/statistics-show-that-most-mortals-sell-their-souls-for-five-reasons/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [It's silly when girls sell their souls because it's in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/it-s-silly-when-girls-sell-their-souls-because-it-s-in/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) ## More by Logan Pearsall Smith > [The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection -even though nothing more than the pounding of an old piano -is what alone gives a meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-indefatigable-pursuit-of-an-unattainable-perfection-even-though/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/if-you-want-to-be-thought-a-liar-always-tell-the-truth/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [All reformers, however strict their social conscience, live in houses just as big as they can pay for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/all-reformers-however-strict-their-social-conscience-live-in-houses/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [The ladies who try to keep their beauty are the ladies who lose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-ladies-who-try-to-keep-their-beauty-are-the-ladies-who-lose-it/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Youth is the time for adventures of the body, but age for the triumphs of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/youth-is-the-time-for-adventures-of-the-body-but-age-for-the-triumphs/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Every author, however modest, keeps a most outrageous vanity chained like a madman in the padded cell of his breast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/every-author-however-modest-keeps-a-most-outrageous-vanity-chained/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [If you are losing your leisure, look out! You are losing your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/if-you-are-losing-your-leisure-look-out-you-are-losing-your-soul/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [One's own vanities and humiliations I find a delicious subject for conversation. Things said of me behind my back I don't enjoy, and don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/one-s-own-vanities-and-humiliations-i-find-a-delicious-subject-for/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [The word snob belongs to the sour-grape vocabulary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-word-snob-belongs-to-the-sour-grape-vocabulary/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Those who set out to serve both God and Mammon soon discover that there isn't a God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/those-who-set-out-to-serve-both-god-and-mammon-soon-discover-that/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Hearts that are delicate and kind and tongues that are neither - these make the finest company in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/hearts-that-are-delicate-and-kind-and-tongues-that-are-neither-these/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Whiskey has killed more men than bullets, but most men would rather be full of whiskey than bullets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/whiskey-has-killed-more-men-than-bullets-but-most-men-would-rather-be/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Style is a magic wand, and turns everything to gold that it touches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/style-is-a-magic-wand-and-turns-everything-to-gold-that-it-touches/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [When elderly invalids meet with fellow-victims of their own ailments, then at last real conversation begins, and life is delicious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/when-elderly-invalids-meet-with-fellow-victims-of-their-own-ailments/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Fine writers should split hairs together, and sit side by side, like friendly apes, to pick the fleas from each others fur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/fine-writers-should-split-hairs-together-and-sit-side-by-side-like/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) [Explore all 118 Logan Pearsall Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) ## More Conscience quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [My morals are important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-parrish/my-morals-are-important-to-me/) [Hunter Parrish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-parrish/) > [Being tolerant does not mean that I share another ones belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another ones right to believe, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-frankl/being-tolerant-does-not-mean-that-i-share-another-ones-belief-but-it/) [Viktor Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-frankl/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [I've worked with people who are much further to the left than I am and much further to the right than I am. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/i-ve-worked-with-people-who-are-much-further-to-the-left-than-i-am/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) [Browse all 3,490 Conscience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most people sell their souls, and live with a good conscience on the proceeds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Logan Pearsall Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-with-a-good-conscience-on-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conscience" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-with-a-good-conscience-on-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e5/logan-pearsall-smith-3950_conscience_most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-wi_596938.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most people sell their souls, and live with a good conscience on the proceeds.” — Logan Pearsall Smith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Logan Pearsall Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most people sell their souls, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-with-a-good-conscience-on-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/most-people-sell-their-souls-and-live-with-a-good-conscience-on-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```