"If we resist our passions, it is more due to their weakness than our strength"

This quote by Francois de La Rochefoucauld recommends that our capability to resist our passions is more an outcome of their lack of power than our own strength. He suggests that our enthusiasms are not strong enough to subdue us, which it is our own strength that enables us to resist them. This recommends that we have the power to control our passions, which we ought to not be too difficult on ourselves when we fail to do so. It likewise implies that we must not be too happy with ourselves when we do handle to withstand our enthusiasms, as it is more a result of their weak point than our own strength. This quote motivates us to be conscious of our enthusiasms and to strive to manage them, but to also understand that it is not constantly simple to do so.