Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

In Harper Lee’s novel *To Kill a Mockingbird* (set in Depression-era Maycomb, Alabama), this line is spoken by Atticus Finch during a conversation with his daughter Scout. Atticus is explaining why he must defend Tom Robinson despite intense community hostility and the near-certainty of losing in a racially biased court. The remark comes as Atticus tries to teach Scout that moral responsibility is personal and cannot be outsourced to public opinion. It reflects the novel’s broader concern with integrity under social pressure, especially in a small town where “what everyone thinks” can function like an unwritten law.

Atticus frames conscience as an inner standard that cannot be decided by vote: ethical truth is not the same as social consensus. “Living with myself” suggests that self-respect and moral coherence are prerequisites for any meaningful life among others; if one betrays conscience to fit in, one loses the ability to inhabit one’s own identity. The quote also critiques “majority rule” when it becomes moral cover for injustice, implying that democratic agreement does not guarantee righteousness. In the novel, this principle underwrites Atticus’s willingness to stand alone, modeling for Scout a form of courage rooted in integrity rather than victory.