--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [There is] an increasing tendency among…" description: "\"[There is] an increasing tendency among modern men to imagine themselves ethical because they have delegated their vices to larger and larger groups.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75c/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ethical_there-is-an-increasing-tendency-among-mo_1709503.png" --- # \[There is\] an increasing tendency among modern men to… ![“[There is] an increasing tendency among modern men to imagine themselves ethical because they have delegated their vices to larger and larger groups.” quote by Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75c/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ethical_there-is-an-increasing-tendency-among-mo_1709503.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75c/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ethical_there-is-an-increasing-tendency-among-mo_1709503.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75c/reinhold-niebuhr-1881_ethical_there-is-an-increasing-tendency-among-mo_1709503.png) > “\[There is\] an increasing tendency among modern men to imagine themselves ethical because they have delegated their vices to larger and larger groups.” [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern men often claim personal ethics while blaming groups for their wrongdoing, avoiding personal responsibility. **In simple terms:** People hide their own faults by blaming groups. Key Takeaway Acknowledge personal role in ethical behavior. Themes ethics responsibility social psychology Mood critical reflective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - political activism - corporate ethics - personal relationships Key Concepts moral philosophy group dynamics self‑deception Questions to Reflect On - How do you own your actions? - When does group blame become harmful? A Different Perspective Collective blame can obscure systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delegated Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delegated-vices-1232467/) [Ethical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical/) [Ethical Delegated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethical-delegated-1232464/) [Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Larger Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/larger-groups-1232466/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Modern man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-man/) [Modern Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-men-984098/) [Tendencies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tendencies/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Vices Larger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices-larger-1232465/) ## Related quotes > [Where love exists with self-respect and joy, where a fine environment is provided for the child, where the parents live under conditions that neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/where-love-exists-with-self-respect-and-joy-where-a-fine-environment/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [There is great truth in Alphonse Karr's remark that modern men are ugly because they do not wear their beards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-augustus-henry-sala/there-is-great-truth-in-alphonse-karr-s-remark-that-modern-men-are/) [George Augustus Henry Sala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-augustus-henry-sala/) > [All Modern Men are descended from a Wormlike creature but it shows more on some people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/all-modern-men-are-descended-from-a-wormlike-creature-but-it-shows/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) > [Modern men are afraid of the past. It is a record of human achievement, but its other face is human defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/modern-men-are-afraid-of-the-past-it-is-a-record-of-human-achievement/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/nationalism-one-of-the-effective-ways-in-which-the-modern-man-escapes/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Religion, declares the modern man, is consciousness of our highest social values. Nothing could be further from the truth. True religion is a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/religion-declares-the-modern-man-is-consciousness-of-our-highest/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [“Modern men and women are obsessed with the sexual; it is the only realm of primordial adventure still left to most of us. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/modern-men-and-women-are-obsessed-with-the-sexual-it-is-the-only/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Most modern men want sex and can’t have it. They want success and never get it. They want money and never earn enough. Everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbie-wilde/most-modern-men-want-sex-and-can-t-have-it-they-want-success-and/) [Barbie Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbie-wilde/) > [“Despite all of the social advances in women’s rights and the push for gender equality in the workplace, it seems like modern men still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-m-mullen/despite-all-of-the-social-advances-in-women-s-rights-and-the-push-for/) [Shannon M Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-m-mullen/) > [“...The men of those days...were absolutely not the same people that we are now; it was not the same race as now, in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-men-of-those-days-were-absolutely-not-the-same-people-that-we-are/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Very few modern men dressed well, she had to admit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-connelly/very-few-modern-men-dressed-well-she-had-to-admit/) [Victoria Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-connelly/) > [“Magic is a very beautiful mystery. Even the ages old magic effects still surprises the most modern men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/magic-is-a-very-beautiful-mystery-even-the-ages-old-magic-effects/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“This is the only period in all human history when people were proud of being modern. For though to-day is always to-day and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/this-is-the-only-period-in-all-human-history-when-people-were-proud/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“All modern men are descended from wormlike creatures, but it shows more on some people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/all-modern-men-are-descended-from-wormlike-creatures-but-it-shows/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) > [In sum, thought and reflection have been rendered thoroughly pointless by the circumstances in which modern men and women live and act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/in-sum-thought-and-reflection-have-been-rendered-thoroughly-pointless/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) ## More by Reinhold Niebuhr > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The essence of man is his freedom. 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It's necessary for the individual, because the individual, no matter how good the society is, every individual has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/freedom-is-necessary-for-two-reasons-it-s-necessary-for-the/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The pretensions of final truth are always partlyan effort to obscure a darkly felt consciousness of the limits of human knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-pretensions-of-final-truth-are-always-partlyan-effort-to-obscure/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [All social cooperation on a larger scale than the most intimate social group requires a measure of coercion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/all-social-cooperation-on-a-larger-scale-than-the-most-intimate/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Man is always worse than most people suspect, but also generally better than most people dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/man-is-always-worse-than-most-people-suspect-but-also-generally/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [When a church reaches up beyond its group and tries to enforce its standards upon a society that doesn't accept these standards, and perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/when-a-church-reaches-up-beyond-its-group-and-tries-to-enforce-its/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [...(I)ndividual selfhood is expressed in the self's capacity for self-transcendence and not in its rational capacity for conceptual and analytic procedures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/i-ndividual-selfhood-is-expressed-in-the-self-s-capacity-for-self/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-whole-art-of-politics-consists-in-directing-rationally-the/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/religion-is-so-frequently-a-source-of-confusion-in-political-life-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) [Explore all 200 Reinhold Niebuhr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) ## More Ethical quotes > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [My hope is that if people have the knowledge, and if they actually see where their food comes from and have access to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/my-hope-is-that-if-people-have-the-knowledge-and-if-they-actually-see/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. 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