Final answer:
The phrase 'could force his soul so to his own conceit' indicates a situation where someone is internally struggling to justify their thoughts or actions, which most closely means to 'hide his true feelings', encapsulated by option C.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phrase 'could force his soul so to his own conceit' suggests an internal struggle where a person might compel their own beliefs or understanding in order to achieve a personal sense of peace or justification. This aligns most closely with option C, which is 'hide his true feelings'. This theme resonates through various literature excerpts provided, where characters exert considerable effort to deceive themselves or others as a means of coping with their realities or achieving personal gains.
For example, the businessman in passage B comforts himself with the idea that hard work is its own reward, despite feeling deserving of a raise. Similarly, the individual in the last passage uses religion and daily devotions as a facade to mask his deceptive nature. These instances show individuals manipulating their own thoughts or the perceptions of others to maintain a certain conceit, most often to disguise their true feelings or desires.