Quote by: Jose Saramago

The moral conscience that so many thoughtless people have offended against and many more have rejected, is something that exists and has always existed. It was not an invention of the philosophers of the Quartenary, when the soul was little more than a muddled proposition. With the passing of time, as well as then social evolution and genetic exchange, we ended up putting our conscience in the colour of blood and in the salt of tears, and, as if that were not enough, we made our eyes into a kind of mirror turned inwards, with the result that they often show without reserve what we are verbally trying to deny. Add to this general observation, the particular circumstance that in simple spirits, the remorse caused by committing some evil act often becomes confused with ancestral fears of every kind, and the result will be that the punishment of the prevaricator ends up being, without mercy or pity, twice what he deserved.


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Author Bio


  • NameJose Saramago
  • DescriptionPortuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature
  • BornNovember 16, 1922
  • DiedJune 18, 2010
  • CountryPortugal
  • ProfessionJournalist; Playwright; Translator; Novelist; Poet; Chronicler; Essayist; Diarist; Literary Critic; Writer
  • WorksThe Gospel According To Jesus Christ; Blindness; Seeing; Death With Interruptions; Cain
  • AwardsNobel Prize In Literature; Camões Prize; America Award In Literature