--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The common people do not judge of vice or…" description: "\"The common people do not judge of vice or virtue by morality or immorality, so much as by the stamp that is set upon it by men of figure.\" — Roger L'Es..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/roger-l-estrange-11943_character_the-common-people-do-not-judge-of-vice-o_1805875.png" --- # The common people do not judge of vice or virtue by… ![“The common people do not judge of vice or virtue by morality or immorality, so much as by the stamp that is set upon it by men of figure.” quote by Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/roger-l-estrange-11943_character_the-common-people-do-not-judge-of-vice-o_1805875.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/roger-l-estrange-11943_character_the-common-people-do-not-judge-of-vice-o_1805875.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/roger-l-estrange-11943_character_the-common-people-do-not-judge-of-vice-o_1805875.png) > “The common people do not judge of vice or virtue by morality or immorality, so much as by the stamp that is set upon it by men of figure.” [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People assess actions based on the reputation of those who endorse them, not on moral merit alone. **In simple terms:** Judgment follows status, not morality. Key Takeaway Beware of status bias. Themes social perception status morality bias Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political decision making - media consumption - leadership evaluation - consumer choices Key Concepts reputation social influence ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - How does authority affect your moral judgments? - Can you separate a person’s reputation from their actions? A Different Perspective Status can distort true ethical evaluation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Common people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-people/) [Do not judge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/do-not-judge/) [Immorality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immorality/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Stamps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stamps/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“In the context of ten thousand years, I thought, what did Filmer and his sins matter? Yet all we had was here and now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/in-the-context-of-ten-thousand-years-i-thought-what-did-filmer-and/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > ['Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/tis-substantially-true-that-virtue-or-morality-is-a-necessary-spring/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [ The great pillars of all government and of social life \[are\] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-henry/the-great-pillars-of-all-government-and-of-social-life-are-virtue/) [Patrick Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-henry/) > [. . . Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-henry/virtue-morality-and-religion-this-is-the-armor-my-friend-and-this/) [Patrick Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-henry/) > [“You have chosen to risk your lives for the defense of this country. I will not insult you by saying that you are dedicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/you-have-chosen-to-risk-your-lives-for-the-defense-of-this-country-i-2/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [You have chosen to risk your lives for the defense of this country. I will not insult you by saying that you are dedicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/you-have-chosen-to-risk-your-lives-for-the-defense-of-this-country-i/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Conservatism vests in and depends on the widespread, informed understanding of human nature, self-governance and the First Principle of Progress: free people interacting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-matalin/conservatism-vests-in-and-depends-on-the-widespread-informed/) [Mary Matalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-matalin/) > [A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district; all studied and appreciated as they merit; are the principal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/a-bible-and-a-newspaper-in-every-house-a-good-school-in-every/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“(Patrick) Henry rightly understood that the moral condition of the American people was a direct product of their religious faith, and that politics and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/patrick-henry-rightly-understood-that-the-moral-condition-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Feeling important is a vice, not a virtue, however concealed as participation in something noble.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/feeling-important-is-a-vice-not-a-virtue-however-concealed-as/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [It takes a vice to check a vice, and virtue is the by-product of a stalemate between opposite vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-takes-a-vice-to-check-a-vice-and-virtue-is-the-by-product-of-a/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Vice and virtue chiefly imply the relation of our actions to men in this world; sin and holiness rather imply their relation to God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-watts/vice-and-virtue-chiefly-imply-the-relation-of-our-actions-to-men-in/) [Isaac Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-watts/) > [“And, moreover, you need not for a moment to insinuate that the virtues have taken refuge in cottages and wholly abandoned slated houses. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/and-moreover-you-need-not-for-a-moment-to-insinuate-that-the-virtues/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-prefer-an-interesting-vice-to-a-virtue-that-bores/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Happiness lies neither in vice nor in virtue; but in the manner we appreciate the one and the other, and the choice we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/happiness-lies-neither-in-vice-nor-in-virtue-but-in-the-manner-we/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) ## More by Roger L'Estrange > [He that would live clear of envy must lay his finger on his mouth, and keep his hand out of the ink-pot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/he-that-would-live-clear-of-envy-must-lay-his-finger-on-his-mouth-and/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Humor is the offspring of man; it comes forth like Minerva, fully armed from the brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/humor-is-the-offspring-of-man-it-comes-forth-like-minerva-fully-armed/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Some people are all quality; you would think they are made up of nothing but title and genealogy. The stamp of dignity defaces in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/some-people-are-all-quality-you-would-think-they-are-made-up-of/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Men indulge those opinions and practices that favor their pretensions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/men-indulge-those-opinions-and-practices-that-favor-their-pretensions/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [It is one of the vexatious mortifications of a studious man to have his thoughts disordered by a tedious visit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/it-is-one-of-the-vexatious-mortifications-of-a-studious-man-to-have/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Figure-flingers and star-gazers pretend to foretell the fortunes of kingdoms, and have no foresight in what concerns themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/figure-flingers-and-star-gazers-pretend-to-foretell-the-fortunes-of/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [We never think of the main business of life till a vain repentance minds us of it at the wrong end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/we-never-think-of-the-main-business-of-life-till-a-vain-repentance/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [He that serves God for money will serve the Devil for better wages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/he-that-serves-god-for-money-will-serve-the-devil-for-better-wages/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Nothing is so fierce but love will soften; nothing so sharp-sighted in other matters but it will throw a mist before its eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/nothing-is-so-fierce-but-love-will-soften-nothing-so-sharp-sighted-in/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [A universal applause is seldom less than two thirds of a scandal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/a-universal-applause-is-seldom-less-than-two-thirds-of-a-scandal/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Unruly ambition is deaf, not only to the advice of friends, but to the counsels and monitions of reason itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/unruly-ambition-is-deaf-not-only-to-the-advice-of-friends-but-to-the/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [There is no contending with necessity, and we should be very tender how we censure those that submit to it. It is one thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/there-is-no-contending-with-necessity-and-we-should-be-very-tender/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Ingratitude is abhorred by God and man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/ingratitude-is-abhorred-by-god-and-man/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [The fairest blossoms of pleasantry thrive best where the sun is not strong enough to scorch, nor the soil rank enough to corrupt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/the-fairest-blossoms-of-pleasantry-thrive-best-where-the-sun-is-not/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Some natures are so sour and ungrateful that they are never to be obliged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/some-natures-are-so-sour-and-ungrateful-that-they-are-never-to-be/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) [Explore all 57 Roger L'Estrange quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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