---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Spare me therefore, your good intentions…"
description: "\"Spare me therefore, your good intentions, your inner sensitivities, your unarticulated and unexpressed love. And spare me also these tedious psycho-hi..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg"
---

#  Spare me therefore, your good intentions, your inner…

![“Spare me therefore, your good intentions, your inner sensitivities, your unarticulated and unexpressed love. And spare me also these tedious psycho-historians which, by exposing the goodness inside the bad man, and the evil in the good-invariably establish a vulgar and perverse egalitarianism, as…” quote by Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg)

> “Spare me therefore, your good intentions, your inner sensitivities, your unarticulated and unexpressed love. And spare me also these tedious psycho-historians which, by exposing the goodness inside the bad man, and the evil in the good-invariably establish a vulgar and perverse egalitarianism, as if the arrangement of what is outside and what inside makes no moral difference.”

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker rejects moral analysis that equates external actions with internal intentions, arguing that true morality depends on deeper character, not superficial equality.

**In simple terms:** Moral judgments should consider character, not just actions.

Key Takeaway

Focus on inner character over superficial equality.

Themes

ethics philosophy human nature morality equality

Mood

reflective philosophical skeptical

Type

ethical philosophical thought‑provoking

When to use this quote

- psychotherapy
- ethical debates
- personal development
- educational curricula

Key Concepts

character virtue moral relativism psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What defines true moral goodness?
- Can external actions ever reflect inner virtue?

A Different Perspective

It may ignore systemic factors influencing behavior.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Arrangements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrangements/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Egalitarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egalitarianism/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Good intentions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-intentions/) [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intention/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Perverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perverse/) [Sensitivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensitivity/) [Vulgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulgar/)

## Related quotes

> [“Pilgrim of the heart, oneness in our vein - love is the revolution, Human is the name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-of-the-heart-oneness-in-our-vein-love-is-the-revolution-human/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [Socialism is not spontaneous. It does not arise of itself. It has abiding principles according to which the major means of production and distribution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/socialism-is-not-spontaneous-it-does-not-arise-of-itself-it-has/)

[Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/)

> [“Naturally there was the notion of private property as a pragmatic concept, for individuals or groups have a proclivity to tend to their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/naturally-there-was-the-notion-of-private-property-as-a-pragmatic/)

[Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/)

> [“I was astonished, bewildered. This was America, a country where, whatever its faults, people could speak, write, assemble, demonstrate without fear. It was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-was-astonished-bewildered-this-was-america-a-country-where-whatever/)

[Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/)

> [The foremost or indeed sole condition required in order to succeed in centralizing the supreme power in a democratic community is to love equality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-foremost-or-indeed-sole-condition-required-in-order-to-succeed-in/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [“the egalitarian lifestyles of hunter-gatherers exist because the individuals care a lot about status. Individuals in these societies end up roughly equal because everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/the-egalitarian-lifestyles-of-hunter-gatherers-exist-because-the/)

[Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/)

> [In proportion to the mental energy he spent, the man who creates a new invention receives but a small percentage of his value in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/in-proportion-to-the-mental-energy-he-spent-the-man-who-creates-a-new/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [“For the normative self-understanding of modernity, Christianity has functioned as more than just a precursor or catalyst. Universalistic egalitarianism, from which sprang the ideals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurgen-habermas/for-the-normative-self-understanding-of-modernity-christianity-has/)

[Jürgen Habermas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurgen-habermas/)

> [“Originated by the green leading-edge in academia, this aperspectival madness of “no truth” leapt out of the universities, and morphed into an enormous variety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/originated-by-the-green-leading-edge-in-academia-this-aperspectival/)

[Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/)

> [“When you can’t block people’s access to food and shelter, and you can’t stop them from leaving, how can you control them? The ubiquitous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/when-you-can-t-block-people-s-access-to-food-and-shelter-and-you-can/)

[Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/)

> [Like many works of literature, Hollywood chooses for its villains people who strive for social dominance through the pursuit of wealth, prestige, and power.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-tabarrok/like-many-works-of-literature-hollywood-chooses-for-its-villains/)

[Alex Tabarrok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-tabarrok/)

> [“There is equality where all are slaves, as well as where all are free. This shows that equality, by itself, is not enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/there-is-equality-where-all-are-slaves-as-well-as-where-all-are-free/)

[Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/)

> [Disregarding the value of religion and believing in egalitarianism are two misconceptions that cause America much trouble today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charley-reese/disregarding-the-value-of-religion-and-believing-in-egalitarianism/)

[Charley Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charley-reese/)

> [“My good friends, things cannot go on well in England, nor ever will until everything shall be in common, when there shall be neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ball/my-good-friends-things-cannot-go-on-well-in-england-nor-ever-will/)

John Ball

> [The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to collectivists, to people who believe that wealth is best obtained by redistribution, and that message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-tenth-commandment-sends-a-message-to-socialists-to-collectivists/)

[P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/)

## More by Willard Gaylin

> [A man may not always be what he appears to be, but what he appears to be is always a significant part of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/a-man-may-not-always-be-what-he-appears-to-be-but-what-he-appears-to/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Feelings are the fine instruments which shape decision-making in an animal cursed and blessed with intelligence, and the freedom which is its corollary. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/feelings-are-the-fine-instruments-which-shape-decision-making-in-an/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [We must live in groups; other people are like nutrients for us, and are absolutely essential for our survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/we-must-live-in-groups-other-people-are-like-nutrients-for-us-and-are/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [We are what we seem to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/we-are-what-we-seem-to-be/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Our imagination and reasoning powers facilitate anxiety; the anxious feeling is precipitated not by an absolute impending threat-such as the worry about an examination,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/our-imagination-and-reasoning-powers-facilitate-anxiety-the-anxious/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [To probe for unconscious determinants of behavior and then define a man in their terms exclusively, ignoring his overt behavior altogether, is a greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/to-probe-for-unconscious-determinants-of-behavior-and-then-define-a/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Feeling good and feeling bad are not necessarily opposites. Both at least involve feelings. Any feeling is a reminder of life. The worst 'feeling'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/feeling-good-and-feeling-bad-are-not-necessarily-opposites-both-at/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [I not only think that we will tamper with Mother Nature, I think Mother wants us to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/i-not-only-think-that-we-will-tamper-with-mother-nature-i-think/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [All of us inevitably spend our lives evolving from an initial to a final stage of dependence. If we are fortunate enough to achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/all-of-us-inevitably-spend-our-lives-evolving-from-an-initial-to-a/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Life is to be enjoyed, not simply endured. Pleasure and goodness and joy support the pursuit of survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/life-is-to-be-enjoyed-not-simply-endured-pleasure-and-goodness-and/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Jealousy, which serves the struggle for survival, can deteriorate into the envy which draws defeat even from victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/jealousy-which-serves-the-struggle-for-survival-can-deteriorate-into/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [We occupy a space of our own creation-a collage compounded by bits and pieces of actuality arranged into a design determined by our internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/we-occupy-a-space-of-our-own-creation-a-collage-compounded-by-bits/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Man, the most complicated of the animals, has a relatively short gestation period. Beyond that, he will be born, unlike most mammals, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/man-the-most-complicated-of-the-animals-has-a-relatively-short/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Because we are intelligent creatures-meaning that we are freed from instinctive and patterned behavior to a degree unparalleled in the animal kingdom-we are capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/because-we-are-intelligent-creatures-meaning-that-we-are-freed-from/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

> [Expressing anger is a form of public littering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/expressing-anger-is-a-form-of-public-littering/)

[Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

[Explore all 22 Willard Gaylin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/)

## More Arrangements quotes

> [for the obvious reason that nature - unadulterated and unimproved by man - is simply chaos. In fact, the camera proves that nature is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/for-the-obvious-reason-that-nature-unadulterated-and-unimproved-by/)

[Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/)

> [Order is a prerequisite of survival; therefore the impulse to produce orderly arrangements is inbred by evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/order-is-a-prerequisite-of-survival-therefore-the-impulse-to-produce/)

[Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/)

> [If you are any competent musician, if you have creative ideas, ideas of songs, of arrangements, in a band like the Stones, where these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-wyman/if-you-are-any-competent-musician-if-you-have-creative-ideas-ideas-of/)

[Bill Wyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-wyman/)

> [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [Conservatism defends those coercive arrangements which a still-lingering savageness makes requisite. Radicalism endeavours to realize a state more in harmony with the character of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/conservatism-defends-those-coercive-arrangements-which-a-still/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [The Beatles have a deeper appreciation of all music. There's a humor, there's a Broadway sense, and later on, the Indian stuff came in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-vivino/the-beatles-have-a-deeper-appreciation-of-all-music-there-s-a-humor/)

Jimmy Vivino

> [Marriage must cease to be a matter of arrangement made by parents for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/marriage-must-cease-to-be-a-matter-of-arrangement-made-by-parents-for/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Abundance, like everything else in the universe, is simply a specific arrangement of energy and information. With our intention, we can change the energy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/abundance-like-everything-else-in-the-universe-is-simply-a-specific/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [One of the proven ways of getting workers more involved with their jobs is by dovetailing employee profit-sharing and stock ownership plans with greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-k-javits/one-of-the-proven-ways-of-getting-workers-more-involved-with-their/)

[Jacob K. Javits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-k-javits/)

> [Much of a behavior acceptable today would be socially offensive in a saner or more logical arrangement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/much-of-a-behavior-acceptable-today-would-be-socially-offensive-in-a/)

[Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/)

> [Any new legal measures, or cooperative arrangements between government and companies meant to keep people from organizing violence or criminal actions, must not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/any-new-legal-measures-or-cooperative-arrangements-between-government/)

[Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/)

> [But since the Modernists (as they are commonly and rightly called) employ a very clever artifice, namely, to present their doctrines without order and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-x/but-since-the-modernists-as-they-are-commonly-and-rightly-called/)

[Pope Pius X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-x/)

> [There must be a judicious arrangement of all the parts. Considered conversely, the artist's task is to fill his panel with a design that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-phillips/there-must-be-a-judicious-arrangement-of-all-the-parts-considered/)

[Walter J. Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-j-phillips/)

> [Autonomy means women defining themselves and the values by which they will live, and beginning to think of institutional arrangements which will order their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/autonomy-means-women-defining-themselves-and-the-values-by-which-they/)

[Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/)

> [Donald Trump has the media wrapped around his little finger. And this is a contributing factor to why so many people are bothered and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/donald-trump-has-the-media-wrapped-around-his-little-finger-and-this/)

[Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/)

[Browse all 536 Arrangements quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrangements/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Spare me therefore, your good intentions, your inner sensitivities, your unarticulated and unexpressed love.  And spare me also these tedious psycho-historians which, by exposing the goodness inside the bad man, and the evil in the good-invariably establish a vulgar and perverse egalitarianism, as if the arrangement of what is outside and what inside makes no moral difference.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Willard Gaylin"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions-your-inner-sensitivities-your/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Arrangements"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions-your-inner-sensitivities-your/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a60/willard-gaylin-26360_arrangements_spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions_1952121.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Spare me therefore, your good intentions, your inner sensitivities, your unarticulated and unexpressed love…” — Willard Gaylin",
                "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": "Willard Gaylin",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Spare me therefore, your good intentions,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions-your-inner-sensitivities-your/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/spare-me-therefore-your-good-intentions-your-inner-sensitivities-your/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
