---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds…"
description: "\"Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, not loud, but deep.\" — Michel de Montaigne"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg"
---

#  Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant…

![“Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, not loud, but deep.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg)

> “Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, not loud, but deep.”

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Conscience constantly troubles us with subtle, deep pains rather than loud, obvious ones.

**In simple terms:** Conscience hurts quietly but deeply.

Key Takeaway

Listen to inner quiet warnings.

Themes

morality inner conflict awareness

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

- self‑examination
- ethical decision making
- mental health

Key Concepts

conscience psychological pain subtle distress

Questions to Reflect On

- What quiet signs does your conscience give?
- How can you address them constructively?

A Different Perspective

May overstate the intensity of quiet conscience.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Asleep Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asleep-wounds-2591934/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Er Asleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/er-asleep-2591936/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Incessant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incessant/) [Incessant Strokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incessant-strokes-2591935/) [Loud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loud/) [Strokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strokes/) [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) [Wounds Incessant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds-incessant-2591937/)

## Related quotes

> [“And yet, I was scared of falling asleep, because the moment I fell asleep my wounds would heal and right then I didn’t want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/and-yet-i-was-scared-of-falling-asleep-because-the-moment-i-fell/)

[Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/)

> [Rash and incessant scolding runs into custom and renders itself despised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/rash-and-incessant-scolding-runs-into-custom-and-renders-itself/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [If we did not know all His retorts by heart, if we had not taken the sting out of them by incessant repetition in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/if-we-did-not-know-all-his-retorts-by-heart-if-we-had-not-taken-the/)

[Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/)

> [I sadly want a reform in the construction of children. Nature's only idea seems to be to make them machines for the production of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/i-sadly-want-a-reform-in-the-construction-of-children-nature-s-only/)

[Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/)

> [I would not call myself an optimist, even though I would aspire to be. I am innately a skeptic. There's kind of an incessant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-would-not-call-myself-an-optimist-even-though-i-would-aspire-to-be/)

[Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/)

> [Mathematics does not grow through a monotonous increase of the number of indubitably established theorems but through the incessant improvement of guesses by speculation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-lakatos/mathematics-does-not-grow-through-a-monotonous-increase-of-the-number/)

[Imre Lakatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-lakatos/)

> [MR. KHARIS: 'Does Mr. Celine seriously suggest that the United States Government is in need of a guardian?' MR. CELINE: 'I am merely offering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/mr-kharis-does-mr-celine-seriously-suggest-that-the-united-states/)

[Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/)

> [We live with incessant music, all the time. It's like some weird musical purgatory, there is absolutely no rest for the ears, no space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-blake/we-live-with-incessant-music-all-the-time-it-s-like-some-weird/)

[James Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-blake/)

> [The mark of genius is an incessant activity of mind. Genius is a spiritual greed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-pritchett/the-mark-of-genius-is-an-incessant-activity-of-mind-genius-is-a/)

[V. S. Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-pritchett/)

> [What is the world, O soldiers? It is I, I, this incessant snow, This northern sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/what-is-the-world-o-soldiers-it-is-i-i-this-incessant-snow-this/)

[Walter de La Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/)

> [You &amp; I, Love, together we ratify the silence, while the sea destroys its perpetual statues, collapses its towers of wild speed and whiteness:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-i-love-together-we-ratify-the-silence-while-the-sea-destroys-its/)

[Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/)

> [I am already sensible of decay in the power of walking, and find my memory not so faithful as it used to be. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-already-sensible-of-decay-in-the-power-of-walking-and-find-my/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [Silence? What can New York-noisy, roaring, rumbling, tumbling, bustling, story, turbulent New York-have to do with silence? Amid the universal clatter, the incessant din…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/silence-what-can-new-york-noisy-roaring-rumbling-tumbling-bustling/)

[Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/)

> [It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/it-will-be-of-little-avail-to-the-people-that-the-laws-are-made-by/)

[Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/)

> [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

## More by Michel de Montaigne

> [No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-man-is-exempt-from-saying-silly-things-the-mischief-is-to-say-them/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [The laws keep up their credit, not by being just, but because they are laws; 'tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-laws-keep-up-their-credit-not-by-being-just-but-because-they-are/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [Every one rushes elsewhere and into the future, because no one wants to face one's own inner self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/every-one-rushes-elsewhere-and-into-the-future-because-no-one-wants/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [Beauty is the true prerogative of women, and so peculiarly their own, that our sex, though naturally requiring another sort of feature, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/beauty-is-the-true-prerogative-of-women-and-so-peculiarly-their-own/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [The height and value of true virtue consists in the facility, utility, and pleasure of its exercise; so far from difficulty, that boys, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-height-and-value-of-true-virtue-consists-in-the-facility-utility/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [The plainest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-plainest-sign-of-wisdom-is-a-continual-cheerfulness-her-state-is/)

[Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [The corruption of the age is made up by the particular contribution of every individual man; some contribute treachery, others injustice, atheism, tyranny, avarice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-corruption-of-the-age-is-made-up-by-the-particular-contribution/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [If people must be talking about me, I would have it to be truthfully and justly. I would willingly return from the next world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/if-people-must-be-talking-about-me-i-would-have-it-to-be-truthfully/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [Most pleasures embrace us but to strangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/most-pleasures-embrace-us-but-to-strangle/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [In true friendship, in which I am expert, I give myself to my friend more than I draw him to me. I not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/in-true-friendship-in-which-i-am-expert-i-give-myself-to-my-friend/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [There are as many and innumerable degrees of wit, as there are cubits between this and heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-are-as-many-and-innumerable-degrees-of-wit-as-there-are-cubits/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [A man has need of tough ears to hear himself fairly judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/a-man-has-need-of-tough-ears-to-hear-himself-fairly-judged/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [Lucius Arruntius killed himself, he said, to escape both the future and the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lucius-arruntius-killed-himself-he-said-to-escape-both-the-future-and/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [I have a vocabulary all my own. I pass the time when itis wet and disagreeable. Whenit is fine I do not wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-a-vocabulary-all-my-own-i-pass-the-time-when-itis-wet-and/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

[Explore all 1,131 Michel de Montaigne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

## 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": "Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, not loud, but deep.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Michel de Montaigne"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with-incessant-strokes-not-loud/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Conscience"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with-incessant-strokes-not-loud/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/michel-de-montaigne-142_conscience_whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with_1061057.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, not loud, but deep.” — Michel de Montaigne",
                "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": "Michel de Montaigne",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Whom conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with-incessant-strokes-not-loud/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/whom-conscience-ne-er-asleep-wounds-with-incessant-strokes-not-loud/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
