Critical Thinking I block

4. The Conscience: “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.” Read the rest of this ¶ (top of page 69, left column). Later (p. 71, left), he asks, “Is there not a sort of blood shed when the conscience is wounded? Through this wound a man’s real manhood and immortality flow out, and he bleeds to an everlasting death.” What does Thoreau mean by conscience? How do you define conscience? How does Thoreau seem to define it? How does this become the basis for his own act of Civil Disobedience? Finally, revisit the top quote: Is compromising on moral issues ever necessary?