The Power of a Wounded Conscience

William Shakespeare spoke of conscience as a “dangerous thing.” In his play “Richard III,” two murderers discussed the relationship of a troubled conscience as they contemplated lifting a few pieces of gold from the Duke of Gloucester’s purse. Speaking of the power of a wounded conscience one of them says, “I’ll not meddle with it. It is a dangerous thing—it makes a man a coward. A man cannot steal but it accuses him; he cannot swear but it checks him; he cannot lie with his neighbor’s wife but it detects him. It is a blushing shamefast spirit that mutinies in a man’s bosom; it fills one full of obstacles.”