---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt…"
description: "\"Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.\" — Livy"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png"
---

#  Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.

![“Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.” quote by Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png)

> “Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.”

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People often rationalize their own wrongdoing, lessening personal accountability.

**In simple terms:** We excuse our guilt easily.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and own your mistakes.

Themes

responsibility self-awareness ethics

Mood

reflective critical

Type

philosophical ethical

When to use this quote

- personal relationships
- workplace
- legal contexts
- leadership

Key Concepts

cognitive bias moral rationalization

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you justify your own faults?
- What impact do excuses have on trust?

A Different Perspective

Excuses can prevent growth and repair.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Betrayal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayal/) [Deception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deception/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/)

## Related quotes

> [We have to open our minds and be ready for the changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-englund/we-have-to-open-our-minds-and-be-ready-for-the-changes/)

[Robert Englund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-englund/)

> [We must have strong minds, ready to accept facts as they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/we-must-have-strong-minds-ready-to-accept-facts-as-they-are/)

[Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/)

> [“LET'S FACE IT... WE ALL HEAR BLOODY LIES, WE ALL SEE DECEPTION WITH OUR OWN EYES, WE ARE NEITHER DUMB NOR BLIND... WE JUST…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mouloud-benzadi/let-s-face-it-we-all-hear-bloody-lies-we-all-see-deception-with-our/)

[Mouloud Benzadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mouloud-benzadi/)

> [One handles truths like dynamite. Literature is one vast hypocrisy, a giant deception, treachery. All writers have concealed more than they revealed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/one-handles-truths-like-dynamite-literature-is-one-vast-hypocrisy-a/)

[Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/)

> [Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/truth-may-perhaps-come-to-the-price-of-a-pearl-that-showeth-best-by/)

[Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/)

> [Psychologists are men with nothing in their own minds, searching in the minds of others for an idea-in order to kill it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-hooton/psychologists-are-men-with-nothing-in-their-own-minds-searching-in/)

[Harry Hooton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-hooton/)

> [The only real security for social well-being is the free exercise of men's minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-laski/the-only-real-security-for-social-well-being-is-the-free-exercise-of/)

[Harold Laski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-laski/)

> [Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/our-whole-constitutional-heritage-rebels-at-the-thought-of-giving/)

[Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/)

> [I love to lose myself in other men's minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds/)

[Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/)

> [Men's minds must be free, and that means the minds of all, not the minds of a select few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-barnett-gilson/men-s-minds-must-be-free-and-that-means-the-minds-of-all-not-the/)

[Mary Barnett Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-barnett-gilson/)

> [Men's minds are given to change in hate and friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/men-s-minds-are-given-to-change-in-hate-and-friendship/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [Wars begin in the minds of men, and in those minds, love and compassion would have built the defenses of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-thant/wars-begin-in-the-minds-of-men-and-in-those-minds-love-and-compassion/)

[U Thant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-thant/)

> [If men's minds were like dominoes, surely his would be the double blank.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse-2/if-men-s-minds-were-like-dominoes-surely-his-would-be-the-double-blank/)

[P. G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse-2/)

> [If so many men, so many minds, certainly so many hearts, so many kinds of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-so-many-men-so-many-minds-certainly-so-many-hearts-so-many-kinds/)

[Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/)

> [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/)

[Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/)

## More by Livy

> [Present sufferings seem far greater to men than those they merely dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/present-sufferings-seem-far-greater-to-men-than-those-they-merely/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [The study of History is the best medicine for a sick mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/the-study-of-history-is-the-best-medicine-for-a-sick-mind/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [“Servius Sulpicius and M. Tullius were consuls the next year: nothing worth mentioning happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/servius-sulpicius-and-m-tullius-were-consuls-the-next-year-nothing/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [There is an old saying which, from its truth, has become proverbial, that friendships should be immortal, enmities mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/there-is-an-old-saying-which-from-its-truth-has-become-proverbial/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/many-things-complicated-by-nature-are-restored-by-reason/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [Bad beginnings, bad endings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/bad-beginnings-bad-endings/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [“In ancient Greece more than one royal house was guilty of crime which became the stuff of tragedy: now Rome was to follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/in-ancient-greece-more-than-one-royal-house-was-guilty-of-crime-which/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [“It is your duty,' he said, 'to recover your country not by gold but by the sword. You will be fighting with all you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/it-is-your-duty-he-said-to-recover-your-country-not-by-gold-but-by/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/in-difficult-and-desperate-cases-the-boldest-counsels-are-the-safest/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [“There is never any lack at Athens of tongues ready and willing to stir up the passions of the common people; this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/there-is-never-any-lack-at-athens-of-tongues-ready-and-willing-to/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [ “\[Rhodian delegation:\] Every city contains wicked citizens from time to time and an ignorant populace all the time.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/rhodian-delegation-every-city-contains-wicked-citizens-from-time-to/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/nowhere-are-our-calculations-more-frequently-upset-than-in-war/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [Dignity is a matter which concerns only mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/dignity-is-a-matter-which-concerns-only-mankind/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [“The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/the-study-of-history-is-the-best-medicine-for-a-sick-mind-for-in/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

> [No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/no-man-likes-to-be-surpassed-by-those-of-this-own-level/)

[Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

[Explore all 142 Livy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/)

## More Betrayal quotes

> [“That's the catch about betrayal, of course: that it feels good, that there's something immensely pleasurable about moving from a complicated relationship which involves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/that-s-the-catch-about-betrayal-of-course-that-it-feels-good-that/)

[Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/)

> [God’s faithfulness is stronger than our unfaithfulness and our infidelities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-s-faithfulness-is-stronger-than-our-unfaithfulness-and-our/)

[Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/)

> [“Flattery looks like friendship, just like a wolf looks like a dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-auliq-ice/flattery-looks-like-friendship-just-like-a-wolf-looks-like-a-dog/)

[Oscar Auliq-Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-auliq-ice/)

> [There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/there-is-no-deceit-in-death-it-delivers-precisely-what-it-has/)

[KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/)

> [If you leave someone for another person, don't be surprised if that person leaves you for someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-leave-someone-for-another-person-don-t-be-surprised-if-that/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“As they say in New York, Get over it and, if you can't get over it, Get over talking about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/as-they-say-in-new-york-get-over-it-and-if-you-can-t-get-over-it-get/)

[Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/)

> [“He returned her gaze, yearning for sentimental solace; love which emanated from a familiar source, mattered little how bedevilling. They shared an intimate moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-septimius/he-returned-her-gaze-yearning-for-sentimental-solace-love-which/)

[A. H. Septimius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-septimius/)

> [I was always here for you,you knew you could count on me and trust me blindly, and you knew that I would never tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hayssus/i-was-always-here-for-you-you-knew-you-could-count-on-me-and-trust-me/)

[Michael Hayssus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hayssus/)

> [Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/joy-doesn-t-betray-but-sustains-activism-and-when-you-face-a-politics/)

[Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/)

> [“Betrayal and love are not mutually exclusive." (Mordred)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-mercer/betrayal-and-love-are-not-mutually-exclusive-mordred/)

[Aldous Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-mercer/)

> [Love comes exactly... To those who still hope, even though they've been disappointed. To those who still believe, even though they've been betrayed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mizhan/love-comes-exactly-to-those-who-still-hope-even-though-they-ve-been/)

[Mizhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mizhan/)

> [For some people, a one-night stand doesn't make any difference in a seven-year love affair. I don't believe the degree of betrayal is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/for-some-people-a-one-night-stand-doesn-t-make-any-difference-in-a/)

[Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/)

> [Betrayal is a serious thing in this world,you know what else is serious? Being lied to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina/betrayal-is-a-serious-thing-in-this-world-you-know-what-else-is/)

[Sabrina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina/)

> [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [“Sarai, you never know who might betray you until it’s too late.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-redmerski/sarai-you-never-know-who-might-betray-you-until-it-s-too-late/)

[J.A. Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/)

[Browse all 2,050 Betrayal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayal/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Livy"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guilt-in-themselves/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Betrayal"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guilt-in-themselves/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e68/livy-3007_betrayal_men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guil_3074073.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.” — Livy",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Livy",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Men's minds are too ready to...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guilt-in-themselves/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/men-s-minds-are-too-ready-to-excuse-guilt-in-themselves/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
