The Psychology of Blame: Why We Excuse Ourselves and Condemn Others
A short essay circulating in Chinese media this week opens with a line attributed to Charlie Munger, the late American investor and longtime partner of Warren Buffett: human nature is full of flaws, and carrying a belly full of resentment and disgust is simply punishing yourself. The truly clever, the quote suggests, never imagine human nature to be better than it is. They respect it, work with it, and get on with living fully rather than picking fights with its shortcomings.
The essay then turns from the quote to a habit almost everyone shares. People are quick to find reasons for their own behavior and just as quick to make harsh judgments about other people’s choices. Unless we notice this tendency, the piece argues, we can end up hating selfishness in others while quietly defending it in ourselves.
Its illustration is deliberately ordinary. Two people compete for the same job. The one who loses may decide the winner is a schemer; the winner concludes he was simply more capable. Neither side has all the facts, yet both feel certain about the other’s motives. The essay treats this not as a moral failing but as a default setting of the mind.
The proposed remedy is not cynicism. Munger’s point, as the piece reads it, is that expecting perfection from people sets you up for disappointment and anger, while accepting imperfection makes room for patience. The clever person stops trying to correct human nature and starts designing around it — in how they choose friends, negotiate work and judge strangers.
The essay belongs to a popular genre in Chinese online writing: short, quote-driven reflections on how to live with other people. Such pieces spread widely on platforms like Toutiao, where everyday readers share them as reminders rather than arguments. They rarely offer data; their appeal lies in naming a feeling readers already recognize.
That recognition is the engine. The job-interview example works because almost anyone can recall a moment when they assumed bad faith in a rival and good faith in themselves. The essay’s implicit claim is that seeing the pattern is the first step to interrupting it.
There is also a gentler message underneath. If flaws are universal, then self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others are two sides of the same coin. The piece ends by urging readers not to keep wrestling with human weakness but to live generously within it — a small, portable piece of advice that travels well beyond its original context.