--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No, moral conscience is one thing, the…" description: "\"No, moral conscience is one thing, the law is another. We have to hold onto this difference.\" — Rocco Buttiglione" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f9/rocco-buttiglione-30243_character_no-moral-conscience-is-one-thing-the-law_2480462.jpg" --- # No, moral conscience is one thing, the law is another. We… ![“No, moral conscience is one thing, the law is another. We have to hold onto this difference.” quote by Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f9/rocco-buttiglione-30243_character_no-moral-conscience-is-one-thing-the-law_2480462.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f9/rocco-buttiglione-30243_character_no-moral-conscience-is-one-thing-the-law_2480462.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f9/rocco-buttiglione-30243_character_no-moral-conscience-is-one-thing-the-law_2480462.jpg) > “No, moral conscience is one thing, the law is another. We have to hold onto this difference.” [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral conscience and law operate in separate realms; preserving this distinction safeguards ethical integrity. **In simple terms:** Conscience differs from law; keep them separate. Key Takeaway Respect moral intuition even when legal demands differ. Themes ethics law conscience politics Mood critical serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - court rulings - policy debates - personal dilemmas Key Concepts legal theory moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - When should conscience override law? - How can societies protect moral dissent? A Different Perspective Legal systems may suppress moral voices; balance is delicate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-conscience/) ## Related quotes > [Don’t tell me your name. It’s likely to awaken my conscience, and that’s the last thing we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-quinn/don-t-tell-me-your-name-it-s-likely-to-awaken-my-conscience-and-that/) [Julia Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-quinn/) > [There's obviously a correlation between an economically empowered woman and the investments she makes. That leads to her social and moral conscience for bettering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-jung/there-s-obviously-a-correlation-between-an-economically-empowered/) [Andrea Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-jung/) > [I surrendered my moral conscience to the fact that I was a soldier, and therefore a cog in a relatively low position of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-ohlendorf/i-surrendered-my-moral-conscience-to-the-fact-that-i-was-a-soldier/) [Otto Ohlendorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-ohlendorf/) > [ You little know what a ticklish thing it is to go to law. \[Lat., Nescis tu quam meticulosa res sit ire ad judicem.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/you-little-know-what-a-ticklish-thing-it-is-to-go-to-law-lat-nescis/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [The law is a powerful thing but the law doesn't always change what's in people's hearts. And so all of us have an obligation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-law-is-a-powerful-thing-but-the-law-doesn-t-always-change-what-s/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [You can never do merely one thing. The law applies to any action that changes something in a complex system. The point is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/you-can-never-do-merely-one-thing-the-law-applies-to-any-action-that/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [Little do you know what a gloriously uncertain thing law is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/little-do-you-know-what-a-gloriously-uncertain-thing-law-is/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [“What is this thing Law that brands man with the indelible insignia of shame from which he can never escape? Law is the process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-e-lawes/what-is-this-thing-law-that-brands-man-with-the-indelible-insignia-of/) [Lewis E. Lawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-e-lawes/) > [“There will be no stability of world-peace till the educated lack moral conscience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/md-mujib-ullah/there-will-be-no-stability-of-world-peace-till-the-educated-lack/) [Md. Mujib Ullah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/md-mujib-ullah/) > [Under the not-so-watchful eye of ACS, children continue to die avoidable deaths. This is beyond unacceptable and betrays our moral conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-james/under-the-not-so-watchful-eye-of-acs-children-continue-to-die/) [Letitia James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-james/) > [Honor is the moral conscience of the great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-davenant/honor-is-the-moral-conscience-of-the-great/) [William Davenant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-davenant/) > [“But there is some connection between critically distancing oneself from prevailing popular opinion and a level of moral conscientiousness that comes to more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-vogel/but-there-is-some-connection-between-critically-distancing-oneself/) Lawrence Vogel > [“Dear Child, Sometimes on your travel through hell, you meet people that think they are in heaven because of their cleverness and ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/dear-child-sometimes-on-your-travel-through-hell-you-meet-people-that/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [A man's, moral conscience isthe curse he had to accept from the gods in order to gainfrom them the right to dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-moral-conscience-isthe-curse-he-had-to-accept-from-the-gods/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/but-before-i-can-live-with-other-folks-i-ve-got-to-live-with-myself/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) ## More by Rocco Buttiglione > [I can think that you are mistaken, but I have to be ready to give my life to maintain your right to make mistakes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/i-can-think-that-you-are-mistaken-but-i-have-to-be-ready-to-give-my/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [For Europe, the fall of Communism has to be taken into account, and the fact that in the fight against Communism the recovery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/for-europe-the-fall-of-communism-has-to-be-taken-into-account-and-the/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [Priests have to have the right to say that a sin is a sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/priests-have-to-have-the-right-to-say-that-a-sin-is-a-sin/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [John Paul II, above all, managed to contain the huge mass of frustration, of hate that had accumulated in that region, in favour of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/john-paul-ii-above-all-managed-to-contain-the-huge-mass-of/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [If you search for poverty, you'll find it, often in the family. Why? Because the family makes this great investment, from which we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/if-you-search-for-poverty-you-ll-find-it-often-in-the-family-why/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [The family exists in order to allow women to have children and to have the protection of a male who takes care of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/the-family-exists-in-order-to-allow-women-to-have-children-and-to/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [Relativism should be confronted where it damages fundamental human rights, because we're not relativists if we believe that the human being should be at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/relativism-should-be-confronted-where-it-damages-fundamental-human/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [I think the State shouldn't poke its nose into the sexual relations of consenting adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/i-think-the-state-shouldn-t-poke-its-nose-into-the-sexual-relations/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [We desecrated the traditional values, but new values didn't come along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/we-desecrated-the-traditional-values-but-new-values-didn-t-come-along/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [The new soft totalitarianism that is advancing on the left wants to have a state religion. It is an atheist, nihilistic religion - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/the-new-soft-totalitarianism-that-is-advancing-on-the-left-wants-to/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [On the other hand, I think that the family, the traditional family, has a fundamental social role, because it's there that children are born…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/on-the-other-hand-i-think-that-the-family-the-traditional-family-has/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [The past was more Christian? At times perhaps, in others, though, no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/the-past-was-more-christian-at-times-perhaps-in-others-though-no/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [One needs to know what the hierarchy of values are from which one takes inspiration, and in a democratic society this is the subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/one-needs-to-know-what-the-hierarchy-of-values-are-from-which-one/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [The family has a social function and so it should be sustained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/the-family-has-a-social-function-and-so-it-should-be-sustained/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) > [That's possible, and in fact the legislation, the politics should graduate the advantages towards those who have children and give less to those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-buttiglione/that-s-possible-and-in-fact-the-legislation-the-politics-should/) [Rocco Buttiglione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) [Explore all 17 Rocco Buttiglione quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-buttiglione/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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