--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most thoughtful people would agree that…" description: "\"Most thoughtful people would agree that morality in the absence of policing is somehow more truly moral than the kind of false morality that vanishes a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg" --- # Most thoughtful people would agree that morality in the… ![“Most thoughtful people would agree that morality in the absence of policing is somehow more truly moral than the kind of false morality that vanishes as soon as the police go on strike or the spy camera is switched off, whether the spy camera is a real one monitored in the police station or an…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg) > “Most thoughtful people would agree that morality in the absence of policing is somehow more truly moral than the kind of false morality that vanishes as soon as the police go on strike or the spy camera is switched off, whether the spy camera is a real one monitored in the police station or an imaginary one in heaven.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Morality that relies on internal conscience is more authentic than behavior driven by external surveillance or fear of punishment. **In simple terms:** True morality comes from within, not from being watched. Key Takeaway Cultivate internal ethical standards. Themes ethics authenticity surveillance conscience social control Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal decision making - law enforcement - digital privacy - religious belief - education Key Concepts intrinsic motivation moral philosophy social contract Questions to Reflect On - How do you act when no one is watching? - What internal values guide your choices? A Different Perspective External monitoring can create compliance but not genuine virtue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Agree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agree/) [Agree Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agree-morality-3287509/) [Cameras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) [False Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-morality-1093493/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginary/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-absence-3287507/) [Morality Vanishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-vanishes-3287508/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-ones/) [Spy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spy/) [Stations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stations/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) [Thoughtful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughtful/) [Truly Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truly-moral-1346867/) ## Related quotes > [“I sensed the schools were hiding something, drugging us with false morality so that we would not see, so that we did not ask:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/i-sensed-the-schools-were-hiding-something-drugging-us-with-false/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [An individual can be truly moral only when they are their own master. 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Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) [Browse all 2,057 Absence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most thoughtful people would agree that morality in the absence of policing is somehow more truly moral than the kind of false morality that vanishes as soon as the police go on strike or the spy camera is switched off, whether the spy camera is a real one monitored in the police station or an imaginary one in heaven.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that-morality-in-the-absence-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that-morality-in-the-absence-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/richard-dawkins-115_absence_most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that_1968110.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most thoughtful people would agree that morality in the absence of policing is somehow more truly moral than…” — Richard Dawkins", "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": "Richard Dawkins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most thoughtful people would agree that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that-morality-in-the-absence-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/most-thoughtful-people-would-agree-that-morality-in-the-absence-of/#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 } } ] } ```