A principle that disappears under pressure was only decoration.

Principles are only meaningfully held under pressure. If a rule bends whenever it becomes expensive, it was never functioning as a rule; it was an ornament worn while conditions permitted. That is worth knowing about yourself without cruelty, because most people discover it the same way.

Think about a principle that has recently failed under pressure. Rather than concluding you have none, ask what specific pressure broke it and whether you can reduce that pressure or prepare for it. Principles hold better when they are supported by arrangements rather than relying entirely on willpower in the moment.