It is only necessary to grow old to become more indulgent. I see no fault committed that I have not committed myself.

Leniency toward other people usually comes from having accumulated a long enough record of your own. The faults that look inexcusable at twenty look familiar at fifty, because by then you have committed most of them and know how ordinary the circumstances were. Harshness is often just a shortage of personal history. Time supplies the evidence that makes judgment softer.

When someone’s failing irritates you this week, try to recall your own version of it before you respond. Not to excuse them, only to answer at the size the fault actually is.