Failures are a part of life, and they happen to the best of us. And when such misfirings happen, we often credit the person for taking a shot, at the very least.
But of course, not everyone deserves kudos for their efforts. Some of them deserve to be shamed and called out, especially if they attempted to conceal their sanctimonious behaviors. Unfortunately, some of the world’s most influential people are guilty of such faults, as you will see in this list.
We lifted these posts from the There Was An Attempt subreddit. Don’t forget to upvote your favorites and share your sentiments below.
#1 To Lie About Her Son
Image credits: Buri_is_a_Biscuit
#2 To Tell Canada What To Do
Image credits: ProfAsmani
#3 To Be Taken Seriously As Astronauts
Image credits: IsThisAUserName86
People often call out hypocritical behavior by telling the erring individual to “practice what they preach.” However, as neuroscientist and author Dr. Dean Burnett points out, maintaining that moral high ground is a considerable amount of work for anyone.
“Hypocrisy allows you to appear principled without having to be so, which is much easier than adhering to strict principles,” Dr. Burnett wrote in an article for The Guardian.
#4 To Have A Free Press
Image credits: jackS9807
#5 To Be Gender Neutral
Image credits: loves_spain
#6 To Recruit A 17 Year Old For The Us Military
Image credits: comeupforairyouwhore
A person may also act hypocritically because they have a self-serving bias, which, according to Dr. Burnett, is part of human nature. As he noted, we inherently evaluate our capabilities far more highly than they really are because of our brain’s natural wiring.
“The brain is riddled with cognitive and memory biases that are geared towards making us feel like we’re good and decent and capable, no matter what the reality,” Dr. Burnett explained.
#7 To Comply With The Law
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#8 By Will Smith To Pass Off This AI-Generated Crowd As Authentic
Image credits: RoguePierogies
#9 To Grow Food And Not Be Forcibly Starved, As 95% Of Both U.S. Parties' Politicians Watch And Facilitate It
Image credits: amazingsciencemuseum
Behavioral scientist Erman Misirlisoy shared a similar sentiment, stating that self-interest is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) catalysts for hypocritical behavior. In an article for Medium, he noted that many people may say that “personal costs” are enough to outweigh the “intention to act morally.”
“Essentially, we all want to act fairly until we are put on the spot and are facing our own personal consequences,” he wrote.
#10 To Make The X (Elon's) AI Not A Libtard
Image credits: tiny_tuner
#11 To Not Omit Tasmania
Image credits: odbytozamiatacz
#12 To Get A Nobel Peace Prize
Image credits: CatButtHoleYo
In his article, Misirlisoy pointed out another observation: we tend to hate hypocrites more than outright liars. According to him, it’s because the former employs a “double layer of deception,” which is one layer more than the latter, who simply says they “act morally when they haven’t.”
#13 To Follow Customer's Anti-Pickle Request
Image credits: ikbenandrew
#14 To Get Trump To Snap
Image credits: ExactlySorta
#15 To Distract From The Fact That Trump Is In The Epstein Files
Image credits: rprouse
Misirlisoy dropped one unavoidable truth: we’ve all had our hypocritical moments. However, a sensible, upstanding person will subject themselves to honest self-criticism and admit when they fail to live up to their own standards.
“If we’re going to lie, that’s bad enough; let’s try not to fool and distract other people by pointing the finger,” he wrote. “(That) may be a good foundation for integrity.”
#16 To Count On Bernie's Support
Image credits: Zee_Ventures
#17 To Troll Newsom - Newsom Won This One
Image credits: Relevant_Demand7593
#18 To Build A Concentration Camp
Image credits: rprouse
#19 To Maintain Canadian Sovereignty
Image credits: ProfAsmani
#20 To Hold A Press Conference In The Rain
Image credits: alwaysunderwatertill
#21 To Protect Free Speech In America
Image credits: RickyOzzy
#22 To Go To Lunch…
Image credits: Relevant_Demand7593
#23 To End Corruption
Image credits: theshadowbudd
#24 To Rig The Election
Image credits: A-Helpful-Flamingo
#25 To Enter Australia
Image credits: Rd28T
#26 To Win A Political Slap Fight With Australia
Image credits: Rd28T
#27 To Protect The First Amendment
Image credits: A-Helpful-Flamingo
#28 To Hide Advanced Ageing
Image credits: IsThisAUserName86
#29 To Question Stephen King During An Ama
Image credits: IOnlyReplyToIdiots42
#30 To Prosecute America's Favorite Pro-Bono Food Delivery Worker
Image credits: Chocolat3City
#31 To Insult Linus Torvalds (Creator Of Linux) By Calling Him "Woke"
Image credits: LookAtThatBacon
#32 At Censorship
Image credits: Hugo-Spritz
#33 To Create Fake Chats
Image credits: damlancy
#34 To "Smoke" In Peace
Image credits: IsThisAUserName86
#35 To Make Another Terrible Image That Almost Represents The Nazi Party In Ww2
Image credits: Soft_Cable5934
#36 To Not Make Supporting A Predator Your Whole Personality
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#37 To Push An Agenda
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#38 To Frame 'Stop K****g Children' As Jew Hate
Image credits: tamjidtahim
#39 To Arrest Foreign Child A****r
Image credits: Successful-Peach-764
#40 To Have Standards And Not Lack Self Awareness Entirely
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#41 To Sell Souvenirs To World Leaders In The Maga Gift Shop
Image credits: kozmo1313
#42 To Just Give A Nice Compliment
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#43 To Be A War Hero
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#44 To Rewrite History
Image credits: MrDillon369
#45 To Find A Parking Spot
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#46 To Make America.......... Again?
Image credits: Seensnipe
#47 To Vandalize An Anti Ice Mural
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#48 To Convince People That The National Guard Should Be Rounding Up The Homeless And Dealing With Protesters While America Burns In Need Of Aid
Image credits: ExoG198765432
#49 To Quickly And Quietly Ouster The C.d.c. Director For Rejecting Rjk Jr.’s Stance On Vaccination Policy. She Is Refusing To Leave!
Image credits: CavePrisoner
#50 To Convince People That This Was Good But The Homeless Are Unacceptable
Image credits: ExoG198765432
#51 By Ibm In 1979 To Stand Against Computers Making Decisions For Humans (From Their 1979 Training Manual)
Image credits: LookAtThatBacon
#52 To Deny A Genocide
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#53 To Bring Back Manufacturing Jobs To The Us
Image credits: Goran01
#54 To Make A Joke About Starving Palestinian Children
Image credits: Warm-Lingonberry-523
#55 To Have A Spine
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#56 To Stop A Pedophile
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#57 To Justify The Occupation Of Dc
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#58 To Go After Ms. Rachel For Caring About Palestinian Children
Image credits: Morgn_Ladimore
#59 To Have A 'Bring Your Child To Work Day' Without An Hr Incident
Image credits: Black_Scholes_Merton
#60 To Enforce The Law
Image credits: RickyOzzy
#61 To Deny Trump’s In Bad Shape
Image credits: ExactlySorta
#62 To Attain Justice In The Trump Era
Image credits: ExactlySorta
#63 To Keep A Republic
Image credits: ArduennSchwartzman
#64 To Have The Correct Response
Image credits: A-Helpful-Flamingo
#65 To Clean Up Washington's Crime Scene (And End Up Cleaning Up Parks Instead)
Image credits: IsThisAUserName86
#66 To Make People Distracted From Epstein Files And Lie To People
Image credits: Soft_Cable5934
#67 To Say "Is It Wrong To Be More Sexually Attracted To Your Daughter Than Your Wife," Like It's Actually A Question
Image credits: ExoG198765432
#68 To Follow The Rule Of Law
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#69 To Be Against Cancel Culture
Image credits: MrDillon369
#70 To Have A Normal Childhood In The Us
Image credits: rprouse
#71 To Be An American Farmer
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#72 To Lie About Throwing (Probably Medical) Waste Out Of A White House Window
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#73 To Ignore Epstein’s Victims In Hopes They Go Away
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#74 To Keep Children Healthy
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#75 To Criticize Coldplay
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#76 To Say Protesting Doesn't Work
Image credits: Warm-Lingonberry-523
#77 To Give A Speech
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#78 At Bio War
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#79 To Make The Social Security Administration More Efficient
Image credits: BestStoogewasLarry
#80 To Make A Legible Map By The Cdc
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#81 To Appear Apologetic For Taking A Hat But It Went The Opposite Way
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#82 To Be The Law & Order President
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#83 At A Gotcha! To The “Fake Gays”
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#84 To Intimidate Me (A Palestinian) By Doing A Hate Crime
Image credits: Warm-Lingonberry-523
#85 To Resist The Mar A Lago Makeover
Image credits: IsThisAUserName86
#86 To Look Like An Edgy Potus
Image credits: Exeltv0406
