What is the conscience? It is a gifted moral concept and an inner standard of right and wrong. A person who buried his conscience is like a walking corpse, and a person who has everlasting conscience will still live even if he dies.
Conscience is the foundation of being a human being. In the most difficult times, we cannot bury our conscience. Don’t think that if what you do is clever, no one will know your bad deeds. Even if no one really knows, your conscience is quietly keeping a account.
Once read a question on Zhihu: "At what moment do you think you can never be friends with friends again?"
There is a highly praised answer that says. One morning, I was almost late for class, and my friend and I hurriedly bought a cake at the school gate. Because the store network was not good, Alipay could not load. The boss was very honest and said, "It's okay if you go back and get money." I thanked me and hurried to class with my friends. When you arrive in the classroom, the first thing you do is to click on your phone to pay. At this time, my friend pushed me and said, "Don't pay, the boss can't remember it anyway." I replied softly, "It's not good." Then I paid the payment. From then on, I dared not be friends with this person.
I think this answerer is right. There is no problem not being friends with this person. The boss is a small business and is afraid that you will be late for you. He trusts you in various ways and asks you to go back and pay, and bears the risk of this money being wasted. If I listened to this "friend's advice and acted clever this time against my conscience, would I still do this next time? One time and another, what if there is a conflict of interest with this "friend" who advises you in the future? Can you make sure this "friend" doesn't act cleverly and conspire to you? Thinking about it carefully, who dares to be friends with such a person? When you need you, you may be able to pretend to be close to you. If you don’t need it, you will be afraid of it.
There is a man in Japan called Abesi , known as the "God of Food Additives". He has been making additive food for his whole life and has always felt at ease. Until one day, he saw his wife and daughter eating the quick-food meatballs he developed. He couldn't help but be confused. He added additives to the sticky minced meat, sodium tripolyphosphate , glycerol fatty acid esters, calcium phosphate , sorbic acid , caramel pigment ... But his wife and children ate it with relish. Thinking of this, he hurriedly stopped it, and at the same time he realized that he was unwilling to let his relatives eat these things. Then, he fell into deep self-blame, quickly quit his job, began to preach, revealing food additives, and talking about the toxicity and harm of these things to the human body. Will he spend the rest of his life in guilt and anxiety? We don’t know, but as Zeng Guofan said in : “There is nothing that makes people feel guilty about, and the heavenly king is calm, and his heart is always fast, and his feet are lenient and peaceful. This is the first way to be self-reliant, the first way to seek happiness, and the first priority to keep one’s body.” Only by having a clear conscience in doing things can one live a calm life, relaxed life, and live a perfect life.
U.S. President Lincoln , at the age of 27, became a lawyer through self-study and jointly opened a law firm with friends. Once, a rich man found Lincoln and asked him to defend himself. After listening to the rich man's statement, Lincoln found that he was slandering a good man, so he politely rejected him. The rich man immediately tempted: "Mr. Lincoln, as long as you can win the case, you can do as much compensation as you want." Lincoln said seriously: "Your case actually requires only a little skill and it is easy to win the case. But the case itself is unfair. I cannot lose the most basic integrity of being a human being just because I took your case. So, please be smart." The rich man had no choice but to leave in disappointment. In this life, a person can have less wisdom, less ability, and even lack connections, but noble character is absolutely indispensable. If you betray your conscience and lose your character in the process of pursuing interests, it will be a loss in the end.Character is the most realistic background color. The background color is not pure enough. No matter how beautiful the colors are used, the final result will be turbid.
Common people and things in this world that have lost their conscience may not be murder and arson. They may be selling fake health products to deceive the elderly who are eager to cure diseases, or they may be fooling the poor to use their wealth to buy unreliable financial products. These people who are disobedient in their conscience make profits and live a good and face-saving life. This makes people confused. Since bad people can live more comfortably, why do we have to be good people with difficulty? In fact, being a bad person has risks and costs. Even if there is no legal punishment, there is still a conscience to uphold justice.
You may be unaware of it when you do evil, but one day your conscience discovers that it is not good to sleep every night and nightmares. Mencius once said: "If you don't worry, you will know conscience." A person's conscience is born and not formed in nature. As long as it is not obscured by selfish desires, you can always act according to your conscience.
We have seen many fugitives who have been hiding in and out for decades. After being arrested, when they were imprisoned, they actually said that they had finally settled down. A person can deceive others, but cannot deceive himself. A person can escape the punishment of the law, but cannot escape the condemnation of conscience.
Only those who keep their conscience can obtain true happiness and tranquility. Conscience is a good thing, and I hope we all have it. For the heaven and earth, for all living beings, and for yourself.
