“When our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves with the illusion that we have left them.”François de La Rochefoucauld · Maxime · 1665 · Maxima 192
We claim credit for having shed our vices, when in fact they left us due to external causes.
La Rochefoucauld reveals human self-deception: people take credit for overcoming a vice, ignoring that it disappeared due to age, lack of opportunity, or fatigue. For example, a former smoker who boasts about their willpower may simply have developed an allergy to tobacco. Apparent virtue is often chance, not character.
Why it matters It teaches us to be more modest in self-praise and to recognize that many of our 'virtues' are circumstantial, not personal merits.