"When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out"
About this Quote
The specific intent is consolation with an edge. When you’re young, you’re a convenient target: low status, unproven, easy to scapegoat when things go wrong. Stengel’s “crimes” aren’t just literal wrongdoing; they’re the everyday misreads of inexperience, the way bosses and fans project anxiety onto the newest guy. Then the pivot: with age comes a softer con. People start granting you “virtues” you didn’t earn, because time itself gets mistaken for merit. Surviving becomes evidence of competence. Longevity reads as character.
The subtext is skeptical about how reputations are made. Stengel implies that judgment isn’t a clean moral ledger; it’s a social process, full of projection, nostalgia, and the human need to narrativize other people into types (the hothead kid, the seasoned sage). “It evens itself out” is the punchline and the coping mechanism: a shrug at the unfairness of both blame and praise. In a sport obsessed with stats, he’s reminding you the most decisive numbers are the ones nobody can actually quantify: timing, narrative, and who needs a villain or a hero that day.
Quote Details
| Topic | Aging |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Stengel, Casey. (2026, January 18). When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-are-younger-you-get-blamed-for-crimes-5424/
Chicago Style
Stengel, Casey. "When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-are-younger-you-get-blamed-for-crimes-5424/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-are-younger-you-get-blamed-for-crimes-5424/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.








