still small voice, a

One's conscience, especially in the face of a difficult moral choice. The phrase originates in the Bible, in 1 Kings 19:12, referring to the voice of God. Ahead of the referendum on legalizing abortion, the priest asked those who were on the fence to listen to their still small voices. It's at times like these that I reflect quietly in prayer and try to let my still small voice guide me to the right decision.

One's conscience, as in I'd love to go but a still small voice tells me I really have to stay home and work. The term comes from the Bible (I Kings 19:12), where Elijah hears his own inner voice: "And after the earthquake a fire ... and after the fire a still small voice."

One’s conscience. This term comes from the Bible, where the prophet Elijah hears his own inner voice: “And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). The term was used frequently thereafter by poets such as Gray, Cowper, Byron, and Tennyson, as well as by Erasmus Darwin (Charles’s grandfather): “Inexorable conscience holds his court, With still, small voice the plot of guilt alarms” (Mores Concluded, ca. 1794). It is heard less often today.