Lay Morals, and Other Papers

This collection of reflective essays by Robert Louis Stevenson examines ethics, education, and the moral challenges that arise when individuals try to act with integrity. Drawing on late 19th-century concerns, Stevenson looks closely at how societal expectations shape conduct and how personal conscience can be strained by religious and social instruction. The volume opens with a preface by Stevenson’s wife, describing experiences connected to their yacht and emphasizing compassion for people suffering from leprosy, alongside moral courage embodied in Father Damien’s work of caring for the afflicted. Against this backdrop, Stevenson turns to questions about what education can and cannot do, and considers the limitations of written words in conveying truth about human behavior and moral life.