This is one of the great bottom-lines of all the literature I’ve read and great movies I’ve seen as well as personal experiences I’ve had.
We all get a little “soiled” in the working as Hamlet pointed out. All of great literature features protagonists and other characters who are flawed.
Unfortunately, too, all of us are not morally unflawed either. But I still hold fast to the belief that many of us often still try to do our best for ourselves and others. It is in the uplifting, unselfish, kind, and generous actions and choices that we achieve our better selves and behaviors.