--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two classes of people in this…" description: "\"“There are two classes of people in this world, those who sin, and those who are sinned against; if a man must belong to either, he had better belong t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg" --- # There are two classes of people in this world, those who… ![“There are two classes of people in this world, those who sin, and those who are sinned against; if a man must belong to either, he had better belong to the first than to the second.” quote by Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg) > ““There are two classes of people in this world, those who sin, and those who are sinned against; if a man must belong to either, he had better belong to the first than to the second.”” [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People are either sinners or victims; choosing to be a sinner is preferable to being a victim because it preserves agency. **In simple terms:** Better to be a sinner than a victim. Key Takeaway Embrace responsibility over passivity. Themes responsibility agency morality victimhood choice Mood reflective serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal decisions - legal contexts - ethical debates - conflict resolution Key Concepts free will ethical agency self-determination Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer agency over victimhood? - How does this view affect judgments of blame? A Different Perspective Being a sinner may still cause harm to others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Christ . . . said that a man who had looked after a woman lustfully had sinned as much as the man who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/christ-said-that-a-man-who-had-looked-after-a-woman-lustfully-had/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest. (Let no man belong to another that can belong to himself.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paracelsus/alterius-non-sit-qui-suus-esse-potest-let-no-man-belong-to-another/) [Paracelsus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paracelsus/) > [“I want you to listen to me you seem to be under the misconception that there is something wrong with you, that there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-king/i-want-you-to-listen-to-me-you-seem-to-be-under-the-misconception/) [Tiffany King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-king/) > [“The law presides over things of this world, finally. The world where shadow is shadow and light is light, yin is yin and yang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-law-presides-over-things-of-this-world-finally-the-world-where/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Life isn't as magical here, and you're not the only one who feels like you don't belong, or that it's better somewhere else. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-r-melling/life-isn-t-as-magical-here-and-you-re-not-the-only-one-who-feels-like/) [O.R. Melling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-r-melling/) > [Women are aristocrats, and it is always the mother who makes us feel that we belong to the better sort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/women-are-aristocrats-and-it-is-always-the-mother-who-makes-us-feel/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [Man indeed is the most noble, by creation, of all the creatures in the visible World; but by sin he has made himself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/man-indeed-is-the-most-noble-by-creation-of-all-the-creatures-in-the/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [For I must write to The Times tonight, and save the world from sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-herbert/for-i-must-write-to-the-times-tonight-and-save-the-world-from-sin/) [A. P. Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-herbert/) > [“Mila found comfort in this ordered world where sin explained suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anouk-markovits/mila-found-comfort-in-this-ordered-world-where-sin-explained-suffering/) [Anouk Markovits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anouk-markovits/) > [There are only two bad things in this world, sin and bile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/there-are-only-two-bad-things-in-this-world-sin-and-bile/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The fact is that sin is the most unmanly thing in God's world. You never were made for sin and selfishness. You were made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-fact-is-that-sin-is-the-most-unmanly-thing-in-god-s-world-you/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [“The only motive in the world that will keep me from sin is the knowledge that God is mine and I am his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-ford/the-only-motive-in-the-world-that-will-keep-me-from-sin-is-the/) [Desmond Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-ford/) > [You came empty handed, but of course that is not up to the world, will be with you'r Sin virtue, which will be sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/you-came-empty-handed-but-of-course-that-is-not-up-to-the-world-will/) Mak\_786 > [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/) > [There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed upon. It will always be so while we live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/there-is-not-a-day-but-sin-foils-or-is-foiled-prevails-or-is/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) ## More by Samuel Butler > [Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/is-life-worth-living-this-is-a-question-for-an-embryo-not-for-a-man/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-you-follow-reason-far-enough-it-always-leads-to-conclusions-that/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/all-animals-except-man-know-that-the-principal-business-of-life-is-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-advantage-of-doing-one-s-praising-for-oneself-is-that-one-can-lay/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Spare the rod and spoil the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Opinions have vested interests just as men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/opinions-have-vested-interests-just-as-men-have/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“we must judge men not so much by what they, as by what they make us feel that they have it in them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/we-must-judge-men-not-so-much-by-what-they-as-by-what-they-make-us/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. Whether it is or is not more efficacious I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/vaccination-is-the-medical-sacrament-corresponding-to-baptism-whether/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/having-then-once-introduced-an-element-of-inconsistency-into-his/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/brigands-demand-your-money-or-your-life-women-require-both/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [A man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-man-who-lets-himself-be-bored-is-even-more-contemptible-than-the/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-oldest-books-are-still-only-just-out-to-those-who-have-not-read/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) [Explore all 355 Samuel Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## More World Sin quotes > [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/) > [You came empty handed, but of course that is not up to the world, will be with you'r Sin virtue, which will be sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/you-came-empty-handed-but-of-course-that-is-not-up-to-the-world-will/) Mak\_786 > [“The only motive in the world that will keep me from sin is the knowledge that God is mine and I am his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-ford/the-only-motive-in-the-world-that-will-keep-me-from-sin-is-the/) [Desmond Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-ford/) > [The fact is that sin is the most unmanly thing in God's world. You never were made for sin and selfishness. You were made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-fact-is-that-sin-is-the-most-unmanly-thing-in-god-s-world-you/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [For I must write to The Times tonight, and save the world from sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-herbert/for-i-must-write-to-the-times-tonight-and-save-the-world-from-sin/) [A. P. Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-herbert/) > [Man indeed is the most noble, by creation, of all the creatures in the visible World; but by sin he has made himself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/man-indeed-is-the-most-noble-by-creation-of-all-the-creatures-in-the/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed upon. It will always be so while we live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/there-is-not-a-day-but-sin-foils-or-is-foiled-prevails-or-is/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“Mila found comfort in this ordered world where sin explained suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anouk-markovits/mila-found-comfort-in-this-ordered-world-where-sin-explained-suffering/) [Anouk Markovits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anouk-markovits/) > [There are only two bad things in this world, sin and bile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/there-are-only-two-bad-things-in-this-world-sin-and-bile/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [This I know; God cannot sin, because his doing a thing makes it just, and consequently, no sin… And therefore it is blasphemy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/this-i-know-god-cannot-sin-because-his-doing-a-thing-makes-it-just/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [My brain is a stone dropping my head into a timeless world of sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abstracminded/my-brain-is-a-stone-dropping-my-head-into-a-timeless-world-of-sin/) [Abstracminded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abstracminded/) > [The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/the-most-dangerous-thing-in-the-world-is-the-sin-of-self-reliance-and/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [The less we talk, the less others care. The more we talk, The less others want to hear. Life is a battle that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aly-johnson/the-less-we-talk-the-less-others-care-the-more-we-talk-the-less/) [Aly Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aly-johnson/) > [In this world of sin...there are very cruel people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-this-world-of-sin-there-are-very-cruel-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Only I knew the truth—I didn’t enjoy killing. It was nothing more than a necessary evil in my world. My sin was being very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kessler/only-i-knew-the-truth-i-didn-t-enjoy-killing-it-was-nothing-more-than/) [Lisa Kessler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kessler/) Browse all 22 World Sin quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There are two classes of people in this world, those who sin, and those who are sinned against; if a man must belong to either, he had better belong to the first than to the second.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Butler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this-world-those-who-sin-and-those/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "World Sin" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this-world-those-who-sin-and-those/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37a/samuel-butler-823_quote_there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this_860841.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are two classes of people in this world, those who sin, and those who are sinned against; if a man…” — Samuel Butler", "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": "Samuel Butler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There are two classes of people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this-world-those-who-sin-and-those/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/there-are-two-classes-of-people-in-this-world-those-who-sin-and-those/#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 } } ] } ```