--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men, when their actions succeed not as…" description: "\"Men, when their actions succeed not as they would, are always ready to impute the blame thereof to heaven, so as to excuse their own follies.\" — Edmund..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/edmund-spenser-2090_action_men-when-their-actions-succeed-not-as-th_837103.png" --- # Men, when their actions succeed not as they would, are… ![“Men, when their actions succeed not as they would, are always ready to impute the blame thereof to heaven, so as to excuse their own follies.” quote by Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/edmund-spenser-2090_action_men-when-their-actions-succeed-not-as-th_837103.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/edmund-spenser-2090_action_men-when-their-actions-succeed-not-as-th_837103.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/edmund-spenser-2090_action_men-when-their-actions-succeed-not-as-th_837103.png) > “Men, when their actions succeed not as they would, are always ready to impute the blame thereof to heaven, so as to excuse their own follies.” [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When outcomes fall short, people often blame fate to avoid responsibility for their mistakes. **In simple terms:** People blame fate to dodge blame. Key Takeaway Own your actions, avoid excuses. Themes responsibility blame ego self-awareness Mood reflective critical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal failure - leadership decisions - team projects - public relations Key Concepts psychology accountability cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you hold yourself accountable? - What excuses do you notice in yourself? A Different Perspective Blaming external forces can prevent learning from errors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [For take thy ballaunce if thou be so wise, And weigh the winds that under heaven doth blow; Or weigh the light that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/for-take-thy-ballaunce-if-thou-be-so-wise-and-weigh-the-winds-that/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Fashion--a word which knaves and fools may use, Their knavery and folly to excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-churchill/fashion-a-word-which-knaves-and-fools-may-use-their-knavery-and-folly/) [Charles Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-churchill/) > [One's conscience reproaches one much more stingingly for one's follies than one's crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-jewsbury/one-s-conscience-reproaches-one-much-more-stingingly-for-one-s/) [Geraldine Jewsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-jewsbury/) > [It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-such-a-supreme-folly-to-believe-that-nuclear-weapons-are-deadly/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Democracy is the worst form of government. It is the most inefficient, the most clumsy, the most unpractical… It reduces wisdom to impotence and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/democracy-is-the-worst-form-of-government-it-is-the-most-inefficient/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Unnecessary hustle is one of the American follies. We hustle at both work and play, and consequently enjoy neither to the utmost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/unnecessary-hustle-is-one-of-the-american-follies-we-hustle-at-both/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) > [What curious little corners of folly are to be found in even the sanest brain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-of-romania/what-curious-little-corners-of-folly-are-to-be-found-in-even-the/) [Marie of Romania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-of-romania/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Tis easy to break an idol, very easy: to regard the self as easy to subdue is folly, folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/tis-easy-to-break-an-idol-very-easy-to-regard-the-self-as-easy-to/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverbs-16-22-bible-kjv/understanding-is-a-wellspring-of-life-unto-him-that-hath-it-but-the/) Proverbs 16:22 Bible KJV > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More by Edmund Spenser > [“All this world's glory seemeth vain to me, And all their shows but shadows, saving she.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/all-this-world-s-glory-seemeth-vain-to-me-and-all-their-shows-but/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [The merry cuckow, messenger of Spring, His trumpet shrill hath thrice already sounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/the-merry-cuckow-messenger-of-spring-his-trumpet-shrill-hath-thrice/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [All flesh doth frailty breed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/all-flesh-doth-frailty-breed/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [“The whiles some one did chaunt this louely lay; Ah see, who so faire thing doest faine to see, In springing flowre the image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/the-whiles-some-one-did-chaunt-this-louely-lay-ah-see-who-so-faire/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Fretting grief the enemy of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/fretting-grief-the-enemy-of-life/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Make haste therefore, sweet love, whilst it is prime, For none can call again the passed time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/make-haste-therefore-sweet-love-whilst-it-is-prime-for-none-can-call/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [In one consort there sat cruel revenge and rancorous despite, disloyal treason and heart-burning hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/in-one-consort-there-sat-cruel-revenge-and-rancorous-despite-disloyal/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Good is no good, but if it be spend, God giveth good for none other end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/good-is-no-good-but-if-it-be-spend-god-giveth-good-for-none-other-end/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [“There is nothing lost, but may be found, if sought. (No hay nada perdido, que no pueda encontrarse, si se lo busca)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/there-is-nothing-lost-but-may-be-found-if-sought-no-hay-nada-perdido/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [“It is the mynd, that maketh good or ill, That maketh wretch or happie, rich or poore: For some, that hath abundance at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/it-is-the-mynd-that-maketh-good-or-ill-that-maketh-wretch-or-happie/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Sweet breathing Zephyrus did softly play, A gentle spirit, that lightly did delay Hot Titan's beams, which then did glister fair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/sweet-breathing-zephyrus-did-softly-play-a-gentle-spirit-that-lightly/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [I was promised on a time To have reason for my rhyme; From that time unto this season, I received nor rhyme nor reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/i-was-promised-on-a-time-to-have-reason-for-my-rhyme-from-that-time/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [“For love is a celestial harmony Of likely hearts compos'd of stars' concent, Which join together in sweet sympathy, To work each other's joy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/for-love-is-a-celestial-harmony-of-likely-hearts-compos-d-of-stars/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Sleep after toil, port after stormy seas, Ease after war, death after life does greatly please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/sleep-after-toil-port-after-stormy-seas-ease-after-war-death-after/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) [Explore all 186 Edmund Spenser quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) ## More Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. 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