--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Instead of rating the man by his…" description: "\"Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performances by the man.\" — Samuel Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png" --- # Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too… ![“Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performances by the man.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png) > “Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performances by the man.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often judge people by their actions, yet we also judge actions by the people who performed them. **In simple terms:** People judge both actions and actors. Key Takeaway Be aware of bias when evaluating others. Themes bias judgment perception Mood critical reflective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - performance reviews - leadership decisions - personal relationships - media criticism Key Concepts ethics social psychology evaluation Questions to Reflect On - Are you judging actions or actors? - How does bias affect your decisions? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on character can ignore context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) ## Related quotes > [While opponents label (Howard) Dean a throwback liberal, The New York Times recently noted that as governor, Dean cut income taxes, reformed welfare and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/while-opponents-label-howard-dean-a-throwback-liberal-the-new-york/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Michigan is also the only industrial state that has a AAA credit rating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-engler/michigan-is-also-the-only-industrial-state-that-has-a-aaa-credit/) [John Engler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-engler/) > [I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-wondered-if-olympus-had-gone-to-a-commercial-break-or-if-our/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-not-a-stretch-to-say-the-whole-financial-industry-revolves/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [It's unrated, which means it's too confusing to possibly put a rating on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cena/it-s-unrated-which-means-it-s-too-confusing-to-possibly-put-a-rating/) [John Cena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cena/) > [When you talk about President Trump, the cable networks turned over so many hours of prime time to him. Why? Because he was entertaining,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/when-you-talk-about-president-trump-the-cable-networks-turned-over-so/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [A critical component of White House Scandal Defense 101 is rallying the partisan base. This keeps approval ratings in territory where the wheels don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-barr/a-critical-component-of-white-house-scandal-defense-101-is-rallying/) [Bob Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-barr/) > [For my own part, I did not see and did not appreciate what the risks were with securitization, the credit ratings agencies, the shadow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/for-my-own-part-i-did-not-see-and-did-not-appreciate-what-the-risks/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [I've had it-the agencies, the winking, the networks, the ratings. Anyone who thinks TV is an art medium is crazy-it's an advertising medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/i-ve-had-it-the-agencies-the-winking-the-networks-the-ratings-anyone/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [I - it's simply not for me to evaluate an independent rating agency's processes. But I will say that there was reason to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-carney/i-it-s-simply-not-for-me-to-evaluate-an-independent-rating-agency-s/) [Jay Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-carney/) > [I do have very strong, very conflicted feelings about rating systems and social media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-jones/i-do-have-very-strong-very-conflicted-feelings-about-rating-systems/) [Rashida Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-jones/) > [People have no morals, I swear to God. The things that people do for ratings! It's unforgivable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/people-have-no-morals-i-swear-to-god-the-things-that-people-do-for/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [If a man is pictured chopping off a woman's breast, it only gets an R rating; but if, God forbid, a man is pictured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-struthers/if-a-man-is-pictured-chopping-off-a-woman-s-breast-it-only-gets-an-r/) Sally Struthers > [A year ago, my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the supreme court had just withdrawn, and my vice president had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/a-year-ago-my-approval-rating-was-in-the-30s-my-nominee-for-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I think FoxNews ratings are a reliable guide to the attitudes of the American electorate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reese-schonfeld/i-think-foxnews-ratings-are-a-reliable-guide-to-the-attitudes-of-the/) Reese Schonfeld ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performances by the man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-performances-we-rate-too-frequently/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-performances-we-rate-too-frequently/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/samuel-johnson-50_greatness_instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-perform_289329.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Instead of rating the man by his performances, we rate too frequently the performances by the man.” — Samuel Johnson", "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 Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Instead of rating the man by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-performances-we-rate-too-frequently/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/instead-of-rating-the-man-by-his-performances-we-rate-too-frequently/#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 } } ] } ```