To thine own self be true.

In your words I see a determination to cleave to this principle. I hope this never leaves you.

For at 60, I'm afraid I've learnt that most people do not have principles. Most people just have virtue signals. The difference is that the principled people hold their values dear, even when there is a personal cost. Most people bail out on their stated "value" as soon as the going gets tough or when their values cost them something.

It's not an absolute, of course, but to be a principle, it has to be something you are willing to give some of yourself for.

It has been a horrid shock to me when people I thought were closest and most dear to me turned out to be empty virtue signallers: their stated principles were as flimsy as gossamer.