Men Are Not Angels

We all live by ideas, and among the most important are the ideas we hold about human nature, morality, and trust.

One view is that human beings are sinners by nature, tainted from birth by original sin. A person who accepts that view will tend to look at himself and others through that lens. Another view, at the opposite extreme, is that people are fundamentally good and therefore generally worthy of trust. A person who accepts that view may move through life with greater openness and confidence in others. Both views are false.

Human beings are not born morally good or morally evil. They are beings of volition. They have the capacity to think, to choose, and to act. That is what makes morality possible. If there were no power of choice, there could be no such thing as virtue or vice.

This truth has become more vivid to me recently. In a discussion with a professor, he remarked, “Men are not angels.” The phrase struck me because it captured something I had learned the hard way.

For much of my life, I believed that people were fundamentally good. I was inclined to trust. I wanted to see the best in others. In many cases, that openness served me well, but that belief carried a cost.

Two long-term and personal relationships ended in profound betrayal. People I trusted personally and financially proved themselves dishonest. Those experiences forced me to reexamine my longstanding assumption.

Trust is not something to grant automatically. It must rest on evidence, character, and conduct. And in important matters, it should be reinforced by proper safeguards, including legal protections where necessary.

To recognize that men are not angels is not to condemn humanity, but to better understand the nature of humanity. Human beings are capable of honesty and dishonesty, integrity and corruption, loyalty and betrayal. What they become depends on the choices they make and the character they build.

People are neither good nor bad by nature. They have the capacity for both. They choose.

And from experience, I have learned that men are not angels.