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But that's always the way; it don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway. If I had a yaller dog that didn't know no more than a person's conscience does I would pison him. It takes up more room than all the rest of a person's insides, and yet ain't no good, nohow.
Mark Twain
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the complexities of human conscience and morality, suggesting it can be misguided or flawed.

Mark Twain's quote critiques the nature of conscience, illustrating how it can lead individuals astray regardless of whether their actions are right or wrong. Twain humorously compares a misguided conscience to a dog that is unworthy of keeping, emphasizing that a person's inner moral compass can take up significant emotional space yet fail to guide them effectively in their choices.

Themes

ConscienceMoralityPhilosophyHuman NatureWisdom

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about ethics, one might use this quote to illustrate the flawed nature of conscience.

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