--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cheaters never prosper, we tell…" description: "\"“Cheaters never prosper, we tell ourselves. But the ape in us knows it's not true. Clumsy, untutored, cheats never prosper. They are discovered and suf..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/mark-rowlands-38789_quote_cheaters-never-prosper-we-tell-ourselves_1205787.jpg" --- # Cheaters never prosper, we tell ourselves. But the ape in… ![“Cheaters never prosper, we tell ourselves. But the ape in us knows it's not true. Clumsy, untutored, cheats never prosper. They are discovered and suffer the consequences [...]But what we apes despise is the clumsiness of their effort, the ineptness, the gaucherie. The ape in us does not despise…” quote by Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/mark-rowlands-38789_quote_cheaters-never-prosper-we-tell-ourselves_1205787.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/mark-rowlands-38789_quote_cheaters-never-prosper-we-tell-ourselves_1205787.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e9/mark-rowlands-38789_quote_cheaters-never-prosper-we-tell-ourselves_1205787.jpg) > ““Cheaters never prosper, we tell ourselves. But the ape in us knows it's not true. Clumsy, untutored, cheats never prosper. They are discovered and suffer the consequences \[...\]But what we apes despise is the clumsiness of their effort, the ineptness, the gaucherie. The ape in us does not despise the cheating itself; \[...\]”” [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We rationalize cheating as harmless, but our innate sense of fairness feels the deceit and its fallout. **In simple terms:** Cheating feels wrong deep down. Key Takeaway Recognize and correct self‑deception about dishonesty. Themes ethics self‑deception fairness Mood conflicted reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - workplace - personal relationships - academic settings Key Concepts moral psychology cognitive bias integrity Questions to Reflect On - Why do we convince ourselves cheating is harmless? - How does our inner moral sense intervene? A Different Perspective Cheating may sometimes seem advantageous, creating tension between short‑term gain and long‑term trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ape Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ape-does-3634494/) [Ape Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ape-knows-2966888/) [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Apes Despise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes-despise-3634495/) [Consequences Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequences-apes-3634493/) ## Related quotes > [There's no debate in the world as to whether people have weapons of mass destruction... We all know that. A trained ape knows that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/there-s-no-debate-in-the-world-as-to-whether-people-have-weapons-of/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) [J. Lee Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lee-thompson/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More by Mark Rowlands > [What is most important when the time comes - and it always will - is to live your life with the coldness of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/what-is-most-important-when-the-time-comes-and-it-always-will-is-to/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [Deception, machination and mendacity lie at the core of human intelligence, like worms coiled at the core of a apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/deception-machination-and-mendacity-lie-at-the-core-of-human/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [“Philosophers should be offered condolences rather than encouragement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/philosophers-should-be-offered-condolences-rather-than-encouragement/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [What is best about our lives -the moments when we are, as we would put it, at our happiest- is both pleasant and deeply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/what-is-best-about-our-lives-the-moments-when-we-are-as-we-would-put/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [In the end, it is our defiance that redeems us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/in-the-end-it-is-our-defiance-that-redeems-us/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [“With the possible exception of the higher reaches of pure mathematics or theoretical physics, one can scarcely imagine anything more inhuman than philosophy. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/with-the-possible-exception-of-the-higher-reaches-of-pure-mathematics/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [In the end, it is our defiance that redeems us. If wolves had a religion – if there was a religion of the wolf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/in-the-end-it-is-our-defiance-that-redeems-us-if-wolves-had-a/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) > [Civilization is only possible for deeply unpleasant animals. It is only an ape that can be truly civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rowlands/civilization-is-only-possible-for-deeply-unpleasant-animals-it-is/) [Mark Rowlands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) [Explore all 9 Mark Rowlands quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rowlands/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) [J. Lee Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lee-thompson/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Cheaters never prosper, we tell ourselves. But the ape in us knows it's not true. Clumsy, untutored, cheats never prosper. They are discovered and suffer the consequences [...]But what we apes despise is the clumsiness of their effort, the ineptness, the gaucherie. 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