--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When men plead for forgiveness, for the…" description: "\"“When men plead for forgiveness, for the nameless, cosmic forgiveness of an unconfessed evil, when they react with instantaneous compassion to any guil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/ayn-rand-59_blank-check_when-men-plead-for-forgiveness-for-the-n_610361.jpg" --- # When men plead for forgiveness, for the nameless, cosmic… ![“When men plead for forgiveness, for the nameless, cosmic forgiveness of an unconfessed evil, when they react with instantaneous compassion to any guilt, to the perpetrators of any atrocity, while turning away indifferently from the bleeding bodies of the victims and the innocent—one may see the…” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/ayn-rand-59_blank-check_when-men-plead-for-forgiveness-for-the-n_610361.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/ayn-rand-59_blank-check_when-men-plead-for-forgiveness-for-the-n_610361.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/ayn-rand-59_blank-check_when-men-plead-for-forgiveness-for-the-n_610361.jpg) > ““When men plead for forgiveness, for the nameless, cosmic forgiveness of an unconfessed evil, when they react with instantaneous compassion to any guilt, to the perpetrators of any atrocity, while turning away indifferently from the bleeding bodies of the victims and the innocent—one may see the actual purpose, motive and psychological appeal of the altruist code. When these same compassionate men turn with snarling hatred upon anyone who pronounces moral judgments, when they scream that the only evil is the determination to fight against evil—one may see the kind of moral blank check that the altruist morality hands out.”” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques hypocritical altruism that offers forgiveness to perpetrators while ignoring victims, exposing a moral double standard. **In simple terms:** It warns against selective compassion that ignores victims. Key Takeaway Beware of moral double standards. Themes hypocrisy morality justice Mood critical reflective Type philosophical political ethical When to use this quote - political activism - legal judgments - media commentary - personal relationships Key Concepts altruism psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance compassion for perpetrators and victims? - When does moral judgment become a weapon? A Different Perspective The quote may oversimplify complex moral situations and ignore systemic factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blank check](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank-check/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) ## Related quotes > [The social system based on and consonant with the altruist morality-with the code of self-sacrifice- is socialism, in all or any of its variants:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-social-system-based-on-and-consonant-with-the-altruist-morality/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Always give with love and compassion without guilt, bitterness or an empty feeling Open your hearts to those who suffer and show forgiveness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-markwick/always-give-with-love-and-compassion-without-guilt-bitterness-or-an/) [Gary Markwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-markwick/) > [“It wasn’t the victory of one man or the death of another. It was the death of the future, and of our youth, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/it-wasn-t-the-victory-of-one-man-or-the-death-of-another-it-was-the/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [In compassionate men, severity is a virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-compassionate-men-severity-is-a-virtue/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I don't like people who speak or think in terms of gaining anybody's confidence. If one's actions are honest, one does not need the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-don-t-like-people-who-speak-or-think-in-terms-of-gaining-anybody-s/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Even in dialogue, your own style rules your selection. Do not give yourself a blank check of this kind: 'I'll merely reproduce what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/even-in-dialogue-your-own-style-rules-your-selection-do-not-give/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Judge not, that ye be not judge"... is an abdication of moral responsibility: it is a moral blank check one gives to others in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/judge-not-that-ye-be-not-judge-is-an-abdication-of-moral/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [If you hate the war, that’s fine. But you should still support the troops. They don’t get to pick where they’re deployed. They just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kyle/if-you-hate-the-war-that-s-fine-but-you-should-still-support-the/) [Chris Kyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kyle/) > [Karma is a blank check... So, you better check the amount !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neto-vergara-crivelli/karma-is-a-blank-check-so-you-better-check-the-amount/) Neto Vergara Crivelli > [“The U.S. civilian leadership was shirking its responsibility to develop a high-level strategic approach to the most significant political and diplomatic challenge of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-chayes/the-u-s-civilian-leadership-was-shirking-its-responsibility-to/) [Sarah Chayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-chayes/) > [“Every GI signs a blank check, payable to the United States, drawn in an amount up to and including his life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-e-nolly/every-gi-signs-a-blank-check-payable-to-the-united-states-drawn-in-an/) G.E. Nolly > [White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-like-an-invisible-weightless-knapsack-of-special/) [Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/) > [Than a big blank check to be your lover or a gulf stream jet to fly you door to door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pet-shop-boys/than-a-big-blank-check-to-be-your-lover-or-a-gulf-stream-jet-to-fly/) [Pet Shop Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pet-shop-boys/) > [Sometimes I feel like a 16-year-old who's got a blank check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-bilzerian/sometimes-i-feel-like-a-16-year-old-who-s-got-a-blank-check/) [Dan Bilzerian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-bilzerian/) > [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/) [Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Blank check quotes > [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/) [Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/) > [Sometimes I feel like a 16-year-old who's got a blank check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-bilzerian/sometimes-i-feel-like-a-16-year-old-who-s-got-a-blank-check/) [Dan Bilzerian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-bilzerian/) > [Than a big blank check to be your lover or a gulf stream jet to fly you door to door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pet-shop-boys/than-a-big-blank-check-to-be-your-lover-or-a-gulf-stream-jet-to-fly/) [Pet Shop Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pet-shop-boys/) > [“Every GI signs a blank check, payable to the United States, drawn in an amount up to and including his life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-e-nolly/every-gi-signs-a-blank-check-payable-to-the-united-states-drawn-in-an/) G.E. Nolly > [If you hate the war, that’s fine. But you should still support the troops. They don’t get to pick where they’re deployed. They just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kyle/if-you-hate-the-war-that-s-fine-but-you-should-still-support-the/) [Chris Kyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kyle/) > [Judge not, that ye be not judge"... is an abdication of moral responsibility: it is a moral blank check one gives to others in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/judge-not-that-ye-be-not-judge-is-an-abdication-of-moral/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Even in dialogue, your own style rules your selection. Do not give yourself a blank check of this kind: 'I'll merely reproduce what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/even-in-dialogue-your-own-style-rules-your-selection-do-not-give/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Karma is a blank check... So, you better check the amount !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neto-vergara-crivelli/karma-is-a-blank-check-so-you-better-check-the-amount/) Neto Vergara Crivelli > [“The U.S. civilian leadership was shirking its responsibility to develop a high-level strategic approach to the most significant political and diplomatic challenge of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-chayes/the-u-s-civilian-leadership-was-shirking-its-responsibility-to/) [Sarah Chayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-chayes/) > [I don't like people who speak or think in terms of gaining anybody's confidence. If one's actions are honest, one does not need the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-don-t-like-people-who-speak-or-think-in-terms-of-gaining-anybody-s/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-mcintosh/white-privilege-is-like-an-invisible-weightless-knapsack-of-special/) [Peggy McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-mcintosh/) > [The government's assertion that it must be unhindered in protecting our security can camouflage the desire to increase Executive power, while the press's cry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stengel/the-government-s-assertion-that-it-must-be-unhindered-in-protecting/) [Richard Stengel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stengel/) > [My life is a blank check before God... No strings attached.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-platt/my-life-is-a-blank-check-before-god-no-strings-attached/) [David Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-platt/) > [Fairness' is one of the great mantras of the left. 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