What does 'spare your conscious' mean? I'm practicing a play called Facing Death by Strindberg. The main character is a poor man who is going to ignite fire in his own house so that the family could collect the fir insurance money. He says to her daughter, 'Adèle, come, now you will hear and understand. If I speak in hidden terms, it is only to spare your conscience in having you know too much. Be quiet. I've got the children up in their rooms. First you are to ask me this question, "Have you a life insurance policy?" Well?' What does 'spare your conscious' mean?