Science Quote by Jean Rostand

Calling men "bad" sounds like a moral verdict, but Rostand treats it as a bookkeeping error: a comparison whose baseline we quietly rig. The line’s bite is that it exposes condemnation as a relational claim, not an absolute one. When we say people are bad, we’re really saying they fall below a yardstick assembled from two flattering sources: our self-image and an airbrushed ideal stitched together from “a certain few” exemplary cases.

Rostand, a scientist with a moralist’s skepticism, is pushing back against the lazy certainty of blanket judgments. His phrasing turns accusation into methodology. “Worse than we think we are” points to the everyday bias of self-exoneration; we narrate our motives as complex and redeemable while treating others’ actions as simple and damning. The second comparator is even sharper: “the ideal man whose image we have built up” suggests that our standards aren’t discovered but manufactured, often from selective evidence. We generalize from saints, heroes, or the most photogenic instances of human decency, then act shocked when the species doesn’t match the marketing.

The subtext carries the unease of the 20th century: a period that made it impossible to talk about human nature without confronting mass violence, propaganda, and the fragility of “civilization.” Rostand isn’t excusing cruelty; he’s warning that moral language can smuggle in arrogance and statistical illiteracy. The quote works because it turns the spotlight back on the judge: before you indict “men,” examine the hidden controls in your experiment.